TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Crimson Tide swimming and diving teams celebrated another outstanding season with its annual year-end awards banquet Friday evening.
In his fourth year as Alabama’s head coach Dennis Pursley and his staff handed out a number of awards following one of the Crimson Tide’s best seasons in in 30 years. The men posted their highest NCAA finish since 1983 while the women poste their best finish since 2005.
The following individual award were handed out during Friday’s festivities:
· Most Spirited: Jack Hadjiconstantinou
· Leadership Award: Crews Wellford and Emily Zapinski
· Best Competitor: Taylor Charles and Stephanie Klotz
· Most Dedicated: Will Freeman and Emma Saunders
· Most Valuable: Kristian Gkolomeev and Mia Nonnenberg
· Most Outstanding Diver: Dylan Marin and Taylor Zablocki
· Most Outstanding Swimmer: Connor Oslin, Pavel Romanov, Luke Kaliszak, Kristian Gkolomeev and Bridget Blood
· Coaches Award: Matthew Adams and Nicole Raicik
The 2015-16 season marked another big step forward for the Crimson Tide program on the national stage. With their sixth place finish in 2016 and 10th place finish in 2015, Alabama’s men earned their first back-to-back top-10 NCAA finishes since 1985 and 1986. The women’s team took 28th at the 2016 NCAA Championships, Alabama’s best finish since 2005.
Individually, Oslin won his second SEC 100 backstroke title in as many years while he, Romanov, Kaliszak and Gkolomeev combined to win the Tide’s first NCAA relay title, taking top honors in the 200 medley. With the win, Gkolomeev became the first UA swimmer to earn three NCAA titles (50 freestyle, 2014; 100 freestyle, 2015; 200 medley relay, 2016). Oslin, the NCAA runner-up in the 100 backstroke, was also voted the SEC Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year while rookie Lauren Bams was named the SEC Freshman of the Year.
Blood earned the silver in the 100 breaststroke at the SEC Championships and went on to score at the NCAA Championships in the 100 breaststroke and as part of the 400 medley relay, earning All-America honors in both. Nonnenberg added to Alabama’s big year, earning All-America honors in the 400 individual medley while also smashing the Tide’s 30-year old 500 freestyle record.
A total of 17 men and women combined for 40 All-America honors in 2016. The Tide men also came within one-hundredth of breaking the NCAA 200 medley relay record while Gkolomeev posted the second fastest relay split in swimming history.
Alabama’s academic success has been no less impressive. In the fall semester, the Tide women posted the sixth highest team grade point average in the nation and the highest among SEC teams and all teams who scored in the 2016 NCAA Championships. The UA men also had the SEC’s best and the nation’s seventh highest team GPA. The Tide men were the only team to achieve a top-10 finish in both the 2016 NCAA Championships and the fall semester national GPA rankings. Alabama’s men also led the league with 22 swimmers and divers named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Follow Alabama swimming and diving on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook at AlabamaSwimDive.
Swimming news courtesy of Alabama Swimming & Diving.
