Three swimmers or divers made it to the top 30 semi-finalists of the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year nominees.
Mikayla Bisignani of Johns Hopkins University and Lindsey Ruderman of Amherst College are Division III nominees while Abigail Knapton of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln represents Division I.
They were among 9 swimmers and divers who were nominated for the award in August.
2021 NCAA qualifier Bisignani was named 2021 CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-American of the Year for her success in the classroom and in the pool. She also competed at the National Track and Fied Championships in 2019.
Ruderman has been a dominant force on the diving board after she qualified for the NCAA Regional Diving Championships and won 1-meter in 2020 to secure her spot at the DIII NCAA Championships that year. She won both 1-meter and 3-meter at 2019 DIII NCAA’s, earning herself the NCAA Diver of the Meet award.
6-time All-American diver Knapton, who is using her 5th year of eligibility at Rutgers, finished 8th on platform and 3-meter springboard at the 2020 NCAA Championships.
This award “recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their NCAA eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers,” according to the NCAA.
The top 30 semifinalists consist of 10 athletes from each NCAA division. They were selected from a pool of 535 school nominees which was narrowed down to 30 by a committee of representatives from the NCAA membership.
Next, the NCAA will determine the top 3 honorees from each division. The 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year will be chosen from the group of those 9 finalists and announced on November 9th.
The 2020 NCAA woman of the year was Kentucky’s Asia Seidt, the 13th swimmer in history to win the award since its inauguration in 1991.
Honorees by Sport
- Track & Field, Cross Country – 12
- Volleyball – 3
- Basketball – 3
- Swimming & Diving – 3
- Field Hockey – 2
- Softball – 2
- Soccer – 2
- Lacrosse – 2
- Fencing – 1
- Triathlon – 1
Note: because one athlete, Mikayla Bisignani, did more than one sport, the total adds up to more than 30.
Aquatic Semifinalists
| Nominee | School | Division | Conference | Sports |
| Mikayla Bisignani | Johns Hopkins University | III | Independent | Swimming and diving, outdoor track and field |
| Abigail Knapton | University of Nebraska, Lincoln | I | Big Ten | Swimming and diving |
| Lindsey Ruderman | Amherst College | III | New England Small College Athletic Conference | Swimming and diving |
All 30 Semi-finalists
| Nominee | School | Division | Conference | Sports |
| Bria Beale | University of Hawaii at Hilo | II | Pacific West | Volleyball |
| Mikayla Bisignani | Johns Hopkins University | III | Independent | Swimming and diving, outdoor track and field |
| Kailyn Brandt | Wahington College (Maryland) | III | Centennial | Field hockey |
| Anna Cockrell | USC | I | Pac-12 | Indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Kendall Cornick | Augustana University (South Dakota) | II | Northern Sun Intercollegiate | Softball |
| Chelsie DePonte | Stony Brook University | I | America East | Soccer |
| Stefanie Deschner | University of Notre Dame | I | Atlantic Coast | Fencing |
| Favor Ezewuzie | Wheaton College (Illinois) | III | College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin | Indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Emma Griffith | University of Chicago | III | University Athletic Association | Volleyball |
| Shelby Gunnells | North Dakota State | I | The Summit League | Indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Carley Hale | Southern Arkansas University | II | Great American | Cross country, outdoor track and field |
| Naomi Hill | North Central College | III | Independent | Triathlon |
| Julia Ingram | University of Tampa | II | Sunshine State | Basketball |
| Alison Johnson | Adelphi University | II | Northeast-10 | Lacrosse |
| Eka Jose | Washington University in St. Louis | III | University Athletic Association | Indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Valda Kabia | West Texas A&M | II | Lone Star | Indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Abigail Knapton | University of Nebraska, Lincoln | I | Big Ten | Swimming and diving |
| Kaelyn Long | Bucknell University | I | Patriot | Field hockey |
| Jessica Lopez | Haverford College | III | Centennial | indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Taylor Malasek | University of North Georgia | II | Peach Belt | Soccer |
| Bria Matthews | Georgia Institute of Technoloy | I | Atlantic Coast | indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Mekayla Montgomery | Hobart and William Smith Colleges | III | Liberty | Lacrosse |
| Nazirah Purnell | Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) | II | Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Lindsey Ruderman | Amherst College | III | New England Small College Athletic Conference | Swimming and diving |
| Avery Skinner | University of Kentucky | I | Southeastern | Volleyball |
| Jenna Taylor | Simpson College | III | American Rivers | Basketball |
| Sami Williams | Iowa State University | I | Big 12 | Softball |
| Ashton Woods | Southern Methodist University | I | American Athletic | indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Jami Wright | Southern Wesleyan University | II | Conference Carolinas | indoor track and field, outdoor track and field |
| Irisa Ye | University of the Sciences | II | Central Atlantic Collegiate | Basketball |
