Cal’s Ryan Hoffer and Abbey Weitzeil and Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson have been named semifinalists for the 90th James E. Sullivan Award by the AAU.
The award is given to the nation’s best amateur athlete annually. Other aquatic athletes nominated are Stanford water polo player Mackenzie Fischer and incoming Duke diver James Harding, Jr. Also in the running this year are UCLA gymnast Kyla Ross, part of the Fierce Five for Team USA at the 2012 Olympics, and Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The full list of all 33 semifinalists can be seen here, and you can vote on finalists until this Friday, March 13.
Hoffer was just named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Meet after he led the Golden Bears to their third-straight conference team title. Individually, he won the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly, and contributed to three relay victories, including splitting a 40.99 and 18.27 freestyle on the 400 free relay and 200 medley relay, respectively.
This season, Hoffer leads the NCAA in the 50 free (18.87). He’s also the #2 100 freestyler (41.45) and #3 100 butterflier (44.85) going into the 2020 NCAA Championships.
Weitzeil became the fastest woman ever in the 50-yard freestyle at 20.90 this season, which also made her the first woman under 21 seconds in the event. She’s an NCAA title threat in three events, though she hyper-extended her arm during her 50 free at Pac-12s and her status for NCAAs is currently unknown. She’s ranked #2 in the country in the 200 free this year (1:42.25) and #3 in the 100 free (46.52).
Nelson, the 100-yard backstroke NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record-holder, is coming off of B1G titles in both backstrokes and the 200 IM. She leads the nation in the 100 back (49.70) and is ranked #2 in the 200 back (1:48.73) and 200 IM (1:51.66) this year.
Swimming legends Michael Phelps, Missy Franklin, Tracy Caulkins, Janet Evans, and Mark Spitz have all been recipients of this award in the past. The 2019 winner was Stanford volleyball player Kathryn Plummer.
The finalists for 2020 will be announced on March 23, with the winner named in mid-April. The AAU will honor finalists at a special ceremony in New York City on April 21.
