Stanford senior Maya DiRado was named Pac-12 Women’s Swimmer of the Year, California freshman Missy Franklin earned Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year honors, and Cardinal head coach Greg Meehan was named Pac-12 Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year, the Conference office announced today. The awards were voted on by the Pac-12 head women’s swimming coaches.
DiRado could not have capped her collegiate career in more impressive fashion, first earning three individual titles in the 200 individual medley, 400 individual medley and 200 fly at the 2014 Pac-12 Championships followed by a sweep of the individual medley events at the NCAA Championships last weekend. In addition to her individual titles, the Santa Rosa, Calif. native contributed to a pair of national title relays, a third-place finish in the 800 free relay and a second-place effort in the 200 individual fly. Her performance helped Stanford score its most points at the national meet since 2000 en route to a second-place finish. In her career, DiRado is a 21-time All-American and seven-time Pac-12 champion. She also holds top-five times in six different events in Stanford program history.
Franklin, flourished in her first season in Berkeley, claiming Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month honors in December and again in February after collecting a meet-high six titles—three individual and three relay— in her debut at the 2014 Pac-12 Championships. The Centennial, Colo. native set three meet records in the 100 free, 200 free and 500 free to collect her first three Pac-12 individual championships. She also helped Cal to victories in the 400 and 800 free relay and 400 medley relay, as well as a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay. Her performance earned her the Pac-12 Women’s Swimmer of the Meet honors. She capped her first season of collegiate swimming by setting an American, U.S. Open and NCAA record with a time of 1:40.31—a full second under the old record of 1:41.21—in winning the 200 freestyle at the NCAA Championships last weekend. Franklin also helped the Bears—who finished third overall— to a national championship in the 800 freestyle relay in addition to a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay, second-place effort in the 500 freestyle and a third-place finish in the 100 freestyle.
Meehan has had an impressive start to his coaching career at Stanford, earning Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career. In just his second year at the helm, he led the Cardinal to their most points at the NCAA Championships in 14 years and its highest overall finish since 2010. He was also honored as CSCAA’s Swimming Coach of the Year after the surprise runner-up finish behind Georgia. Meehan has wasted no time making a mark on the Cardinal program, winning a Pac-12 team title in 2013 followed by an impressive showing at this year’s NCAAs. Prior to joining the Cardinal, he spent five seasons with Cal’s men’s swimming and diving programs and was regarded as one of the top assistants in the country. During his time with the Bears, the program produced a pair of NCAA Championships (2011, 2012) and a runner up finish in 2010.
USC redshirt junior Haley Ishimatsu was named Pac-12 Women’s Diver of the Year, Arizona freshman Michal Bower was named Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and USC’s Hongping Li was named Pac-12 Women’s Diving Coach of the Year, the Conference office announced today. The awards were voted on by the Pac-12 women’s diving coaches.
Ishimatsu went two for three in the diving competitions at the 2014 Pac-12 Championships, winning the three-meter, then setting a meet record to defend her Pac-12 platform title from a year ago. The 2013 NCAA Platform title holder went on to become the first women’s diver to repeat as platform champion at NCAAs since 1992-93. The Seal Beach, Calif. native was named the Pac-12 women’s Diver of the Meet in addition to receiving February Women’s Diver of the Month honors. Only a junior, the All-American now owns three Pac-12 individual titles and two NCAA platform championships. Haley follows in the footsteps of her older sister Victoria, who was a four-time Pac-12 Diver of the Year from 2009-2012.
Bower, a freshman from Loveland, Colo., had a stellar first year of collegiate diving, capped by two second-place finishes at the Pac-12 Championships in the three-meter and the one-meter. In earlier dual meets against Stanford and California, she nabbed a pair of first-place finishes in the one-meter and three-meter, respectively. Throughout the months of January and February, Bower didn’t finish lower than second in the one or three meter dives in every competition she was entered.
Li has been named the Pac-12 Women’s Diving Coach of the Year for the sixth consecutive year and a record eleven times overall. Since joining the Trojans in 1999, Li has guided men’s and women’s divers to eight NCAA titles. Under his tutelage, Ishimatsu established a new NCAA record on the platform in 2013 then went on to repeat as the NCAA Platform Champion last weekend. Li also coached Haley’s older sister Victoria, an All-American and NCAA champion in the one-meter springboard. The older Ishimatsu, who currently serves as a volunteer assistant for the Trojans, owns seven Pac-12 individual diving championships—three-consecutive in the one-meter (2010-12) and four-consecutive (2009-12) in the three-meter.
