Virginia Earns Three ACC End-of-Year Honors
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s swimming and diving team earned three ACC end-of-year honors, the league office announced on Friday (April 3), as junior Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) was named the ACC Swimmer of the Year, freshman Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) was named the ACC Freshman of the Year and head coach Todd DeSorbo was named the women’s ACC Swimming Coach of the Year.
Madden led the Cavaliers at the ACC Championships, winning individual titles in the 200, 500 and 1650-yard freestyle and helping the 400 and 800-yard freestyle relay teams to victory. The five-time conference champion was named the ACC Swimmer of the Meet and was the conference’s top point scorer with 96 points. Madden concluded the season with the second-fastest 500-yard freestyle time in the NCAA, in addition to ranking sixth in the mile, seventh in the 200-yard backstroke and seventh in the 200-yard freestyle. She is the first Cavalier to win the award since Lauren Purdue was named the conference Swimmer of the Year in 2011.
Douglass had a strong start to her collegiate career winning five conference titles and scoring 91 points for the Cavaliers at the conference championships. She won individual titles in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly and helped capture relay titles in the 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. She also placed third in the 200-yard breaststroke and second in the 400-yard medley relay. The freshman set an ACC record in the 200-yard individual medley, recording the fourth-fastest time by an individual in NCAA history. Douglass led the nation in the 200-yard individual medley and ranked third nationally in the 200-yard breaststroke, fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and fifth in the 50-yard freestyle. She is the first Cavalier to win the award since Jennifer Marrkand in 2015.
DeSorbo was named the Women’s ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Cavaliers to an ACC title, the team’s 16th overall conference championship and DeSorbo’s second since he was named head coach in 2017. Virginia set a conference record for most points scored at the ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, scoring 1,492.5 points over the four-day meet. Virginia won 10 conference titles which included winning six individual races and four relay events. The team also tallied 36 All-ACC honors at the meet. Virginia finished the season ranked second in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association’s final regular season poll. DeSorbo won his first ACC Women’s Coach of the Year of the honor with the Cavaliers and is Virginia’s first recipient to win since 2016.
Men’s Swimmer of the Year: Coleman Stewart, NC State
Women’s Swimmer of the Year: Paige Madden, Virginia
Men’s Diver of the Year: James Brady, NC State
Women’s Diver of the Year: Molly Carlson, Florida State
Men’s Freshman of the Year: Jack Hoagland, Notre Dame
Women’s Freshman of the Year: Kate Douglass, Virginia
Men’s Swim Coach of the Year: Braden Holloway, NC State
Women’s Swim Coach of the Year: Todd DeSorbo, Virginia
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year: Randy Ableman, Miami
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year: John Proctor, Florida State