On the swimming side of the awards, Cal was dominant. The Golden Bears swept the titles given to swimmers, with Ryan Hoffer taking Swimmer of the Year, Destin Lasco winning Freshman of the Year, and David Durden being recognized as the Coach of the Year. The trio became just the 4th from the same school to sweep the awards, joining Cal in 2019 and 2016 and Stanford in 2004.
Ryan Hoffer‘s Swimmer of the year was his second straight. The senior swept his events at the NCAA Championships, winning the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly, as well as helping Cal to a pair of relay wins in the 200 and 400 free relays. Hoffer joins Olympic champions Nathan Adrian and Ryan Murphy as the only Cal team members to win the award multiple times.
In his first season of NCAA swimming, Destin Lasco swam to six All-American finishes at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Lasco’s top finish came in the 200 back, where he finished second, swimming the 3rd fastest time in history. The freshman also added a pair of third-place finishes in the 100 back and 200 IM. Lasco was the first swimmer to win both the 100 and 200 backstroke at the Pac-12 Championships since Ryan Murphy accomplished the feat in 2017.
Leading Hoffer and Lasco to their titles was Pac-12 Coach of the Year, David Durden. Durden led Cal to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships, earning the most points ever by a second-place finisher at the meet. The award was Durden’s 4th straight, and 10th all-time.
On the diving boards, it was Utah who made a strong showing, with Luke McDivitt claiming Diver of the Year and his coach, Richard Marschner, claiming Coach of the Year.
McDivitt was recognized as Diver of the Year after claiming Utah’s first-ever Pac-12 diving title on the platform. The sophomore finished as the runner-up on the platform at the NCAA championships, as well as adding an 8th place finish on the 3-meter and 11th place on the 1-meter.
Coaching McDivitt to his strong season was Richard Marschner, who has been at the helm of Utah diving for 11 seasons. At the Pac-12 championships, Marschner guided the Utes to a trio of podium finishes and 133 points, the most ever scored by the school’s diving program. Utah also qualified four divers to compete at the NCAA Championships, the most ever qualified for the school in a single season.
Rounding out the diving awards was Hunter Hollenbeck, who claimed Freshman Diver of the Year for Stanford. In Hollenbeck’s first season he finished in 8th on the 3-meter and 9th on the 1-meter at the Pac-12 Championships. He also added pair of finals showings at the Zone E diving meet.
