CSCAA Announces Five Annual Major Award Winners For 2015

This is an unedited press release courtesy of the CSCAA.

The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) takes great pleasure in announcing the 2015 recipients of our five annual major awards. The awards will be presented at the CSCAA Annual Banquet on Thursday, May 7, 2015 held in conjunction with the CSCAA Convention at the Hilton Orrington in Evanston, IL. 
The National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy
Jon Howell, Emory University
The Benjamin Franklin Award
Robert Clauson
The Speedo Lifetime Achievement Award
Jim Steen, Kenyon College
The Richard E. Steadman Award
C. Rob Orr, Princeton University
The Charles McCaffree Award
Dr. James DeBord, University of Illinois
THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE and SCHOLASTIC SWIMMING TROPHY
The National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy is the highest award of its kind in the United States. It is presented to an individual or organization for having contributed in an outstanding way to swimming as a competitive sport and as a healthful recreational activity at schools and colleges. The 2014 Recipient of the Collegiate Trophy is Jon Howell of Emory University. 
In 17 seasons at Emory, Jon Howell has guided the Eagles to 33 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division III men's and women's national championships and 34 conference team titles. In 2015, he led the Emory University women to their sixth-straight NCAA Division III Championship and eighth total under his tutelage, while the men finished fourth in the Nation.  It marked the 16th-consecutive campaign that the men's program had finished fifth or better, while the women, now have a 15-year streak of finishing fourth or better at the National Championship.
Howell was honored as the CSCAA Women's Swimming Coach of the Year in 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2011. He and his assistants have been honored seven times as conference Coaching Staff of the Year, most recently in 2014.  In addition, he coached Liz Horvat to the CSCAA Division III Swimmer of the Year honors in 2009 and this year Andrew Wilson was named the CSCAA Division III Men’s Swimmer of the Year. 
Since his arrival at Emory, the Eagles have recorded over 26 individual and 16 relay national champions and over 900 All-America certificates awarded to their swimmers. He has overseen 14 conference swimmers of the year, seven conference divers of the year, 14 conference rookies of the year and had led both the men's and women's team to a UAA title in each of his 16 seasons with the team.
Howell was an assistant at Clemson for two seasons and helped the Tigers set 14 school records and win an Atlantic Coast Conference women's championship.  Previously, Howell was the interim head coach at Kenyon College in which his teams won the NCAA Division III national men's and women's championships. That season Kenyon won 14 national titles, produced a Division III national record, and swept the men's and women's conference titles.
Howell is a 1990 graduate of Kenyon, where he was 21-time All-American, including eleven individual national titles.  Howell helped Kenyon to four national team championships and was twice voted the team's Most Valuable Performer. At the completion of his senior season, Howell was voted the school's Athlete of the Year.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AWARD
Awarded to the individual, or organization, whose efforts best promote the integrity and enhancement of the student-athlete ideal. The 2015 recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Award is Robert Clauson. 
Bob Clauson has over 35 years of experience with sports data management. Bob’s career began while he was working on several large swim meets at Brown University. In the early days, those meets were managed by pencil and paper. After numerous complaints about how labor intensive this process was, Bob designed a computer program that could handle the data and streamline the process.  Bob’s innovations allowed meet directors to manage data accurately by avoiding the typos and misreads that occur with human transcription.  
In 1976, Bob began running the majority of large swimming events in the United States and sought out by the NCAA to manage the data for the 1976 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.  It was a role he continued for the next thirty-five years.  Bob was also hired to manage the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) National Swimming and Diving Championships at Brown University in 1977. He managed the data for the Women’s AIAW/NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship meets for over 30 years.   Use of a computer revolutionized meet management and took away the host institution’s possibility of miss-seeding and other errors.
In addition to college swimming, Bob managed data at several other large aquatic events during his career. These meets included the 1979 World University Games in Mexico City, Mexico (Bob managed the data for all 10 sports at that competition); the 1982 FINA World Aquatic Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador; and, the United States Swimming Olympic Trials for a period expanding over 20 years. 
Managing data for the college swimming and diving championships was something that Bob had a very strong passion for. He loved working with the coaches from around the country and enjoyed every minute of being on site with them. Bob treasures the memories and friendships that he has made with all of the coaches and staff that make up this great sport.
Bob graduated from Tufts University in 1966 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He currently lives in Windsor, Colorado with his wife Linda.
SPEEDO CSCAA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Awarded to the individual whose efforts best exemplify the integrity and ideals of collegiate swimming and who has achieved significant success in the sport while still imparting the educational and character building qualities of the collegiate swimming experience. This year we honor and celebrate Speedo Lifetime Achievement Award winner Jim Steen of Kenyon College.
Under the tutelage of head coach Jim Steen, the Kenyon College Swimming and Diving team developed into the most successful program in collegiate athletics history.  One of the most respected coaches in the nation, Steen directed the Kenyon men's team to 29 of its record 31 consecutive NCAA national championships, while at the same time, he's guided the Ladies to 21 of their 23 national titles. Steen has won more NCAA national championships (50) than any other coach in any NCAA sport.
Steen's contributions have been consistent and innovative, and the results have been quite simply unparalleled. He is a 14-time winner of the CSCAA Division III Coach of the Year award, a seven-time winner of the American Coaches Association Award for Excellence and the 1994 recipient of the National Collegiate and Scholastic Swimming Trophy.
Steen, who in his 37 years at Kenyon, coached well over 300 men and women All-America swimmers who have together earned nearly 2,700 All-America awards, since his arrival on campus in the 1975-1976 academic year.
At the conference level, Steen's impact was just as impressive. Since joining the North Coast Athletic Conference in 1984-85, both of Kenyon's swimming programs captured 23 of the 27 conference championships.  His teams won more NCAA events and set more national records than any other school in history. 
He is perhaps even more proud of the fact that his swimmers compiled a record number of academic postgraduate scholarship awards.  Steen is energetic, dynamic, committed, and deeply interested in his athletes - interested in them as swimmers, scholars and simply as young men and women living full, rich, multifaceted lives.
A 1971 graduate of Kent State University, Steen was an All Mid-American Conference swimmer as a sprinter and backstroker.  He moved on to earn his master's degree in education from Miami University before accepting his position at Kenyon.  Steen is recognized as a national leader in swimming and has served on the NCAA Rules Committee and the CSCAA Executive Committee.  He has conducted swim clinics throughout the United States. His articles, training program, and energetic style, to say nothing of Kenyon's unrivaled success, have gained him national and international acclaim.
THE RICHARD E. STEADMAN AWARD
The Richard E. Steadman award is conferred annually to a swimming or diving coach in high school, club, or university ranks who, in the opinion of the CSCAA, has done the most to spread happiness in Coach Steadman's beloved sport of swimming and diving. Our 2014-2015 recipient of the Richard E. Steadman Award is C. Rob Orr of Princeton University.
The third-winningest active coach in the Princeton athletic department, Rob Orr has won over 300 swim meets and 22 EISL/Ivy League Championships during an illustrious career that shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. He will begin his 37th season this fall with the program on one of its most impressive stretches.
Over the course of his career Orr has coached 59 All-Americans, two NCAA Championship relays and several Olympians and NCAA champions, including 1992 Olympic gold medalist Nelson Diebel ’96 and Doug Lennox, who competed in the 2008 Olympics.  Orr has compiled a very impressive .872 career dual meet mark, including a 209-25 (.886) record in the Ivy League.
A 1972 graduate of Southern California, Orr has been the EISL/Ivy Coach of the Year seven times, most recently in 2015. In 1990 he received the Master Coach Award from the College Swimming Coaches Association for his contributions to collegiate swimming.  Orr has a master’s degree in physical education from USC and served as an assistant coach with the Trojan program for three years.
CHARLES McCAFFREE AWARD
The Charles McCaffree Award is presented annually to an individual linked to collegiate aquatic sport that has achieved outstanding success in life and has contributed greatly to society. .  The 2014-15 Charles McCaffree award is presented to Dr. James DeBord.
Dr. James DeBord was born in Chicago and grew up in Peoria where he was an All-American swimmer for Richwood High School. He attended the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. At Illinois he was a three-time letter winner in swimming from 1967-69 and was the freshman swimmer of year. After receiving his undergraduate degree at Illinois he earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago and completed a Surgical Internship and General Surgery Residency at the University of Illinois Hospitals in Chicago.
In 2004 The University of Illinois Varsity "I" Association bestowed their highest honor, The Award of the Year, upon Dr. DeBord.  The award recognizes select individuals for their achievements and their contributions to Illinois athletics and post graduation achievement.  Dr. DeBord and his wife, Margaret have been actively involved in the I FUND since 1979.
Dr. DeBord is board certified in General Surgery by the American Board of Surgery. He also has a Certificate of Special Qualifications in General Vascular Surgery from the American Board of Surgery. He holds memberships in various surgical and vascular societies and currently holds the office of President of the Midwest Surgical Association.
Dr. DeBord is Professor of Clinical Surgery, Vice-Chair of the Department of Surgery, and Director of the Vascular Conference. He was the recipient of the 2000-2001 UICOMP ‘Outstanding Service Award’ and the 1996 and 1999 resident-elected UICOMP Department of Surgery ‘Faculty Teaching Award’.
He is on the active staff of all three Peoria hospitals and is on the consulting staff at four hospitals in surrounding areas. He is also a member of the Board of Directors at the University of Illinois Foundation, the OSF St. Francis Foundation and the Central Surgical Association Foundation. He is a founder and principal shareholder in First Capital Bank.
Dr. DeBord and his wife Margaret reside in Peoria and are the parents of two sons and two daughters, including University of Iowa Associate Head Coach Frannie Malone.