Press Release courtesy of the ACC
NCAA champions Mallory Comerford of Louisville and Andreas Vazaios of NC State headline the Atlantic Coast Conference’s yearly award winners for the 2017-18 Swimming and Diving Season.
The honors, announced Thursday afternoon, were determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches.
Comerford was voted the ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive year, while Vazaios was selected as the Men’s Swimmer of the Year.
Duke’s MaryEllen Targonski was voted the ACC Women’s Diver of the Year, and Greg Duncan of North Carolina was named Men’s Diver of the Year.
Louisville’s Mariia Astashkina was selected as the ACC Women’s Freshman of the Year, while fellow Cardinal Nicolas Albiero was voted Men’s Freshman of the Year.
Louisville head coach Arthur Albiero was named ACC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year, and NC State head coach Braden Holloway was selected as the Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year.
Miami’s Randy Ableman was voted ACC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year, while North Carolina’s Abel Sanchez was named Men’s Diving Coach of the Year.
Comerford, a two-time NCAA champion in the 200 free, was also voted the Most Valuable Swimmer of the 2018 ACC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. The junior from Kalamazoo, Michigan, also took second in the 100 free, and earned six total All-American nods at NCAAs.
At the 2018 ACC Championships, Comerford earned five individual league titles, setting an ACC Championship record in the 100 free with a time of 46.65.
Vazaios won 2018 NCAA titles in the 200 fly with a time of 1:38.60, and as part of the 800 free relay team with Ryan Held, Jacob Molacek and Justin Ress with an NCAA-record time of 6:05.31. The junior from Athens, Greece, placed second in the 200 IM, third in the 100 back, and received five total All-America honors at the meet.
Vazaios and the Wolfpack won the 2018 ACC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship, and the junior was part of the teams that won the 800 free relay and 400 medley relay, and he took gold in the 200 IM.
Duke’s Targonski earned an Honorable Mention All-America nod at the 2018 NCAA Championships, placing in the top 16 on platform. The senior from Gastonia, North Carolina, also placed in the top 16 last year at NCAAs in the platform competition.
The Blue Devil diver is a two-time All-ACC honoree on platform, and placed second in the competition at the 2018 ACC Championships.
Duncan received Honorable Mention All-America honors after finishing 11th in the 3-meter competition at the 2018 NCAA Championships. The freshman from Oakton, Virginia, won both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions at the 2018 ACC Championships, and became the first Tar Heel diver to win both spring board events in 60 years.
Louisville’s Astashkina earned two All-America nods at the 2018 NCAA Championships after placing fifth in the 200 breast and finishing in fourth with her teammates for the 400 medley relay. The rookie from Moscow also received Honorable Mention All-America honors in the 100 breast and 200 breast.
At the 2018 ACC Championships, Astashkina won the 200 breast with a time of 2:09.01.
Fellow Cardinal Nicolas Albiero had a strong showing at this year’s NCAA Championships, receiving All-America honors in the 100 breast, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay and 800 free relay. The freshman from Louisville, Kentucky, also earned Honorable Mention All-America nods in the 100 fly, 200 free relay and the 400 free relay.
Nicolas Albiero left his mark on the 2018 ACC Championships, taking gold in the 200 fly with a time of 1:41.08, a meet record, and touching the wall first with his teammates in the 200 medley relay.
Louisville coach Arthur Albiero led his team to its best finish in program history, placing fourth at the 2018 NCAA Championships. The Cardinals racked up 232 points, a program record, and received 10 individual and five relay All-American honors.
Louisville placed second at the 2018 ACC Championships, the best finish for the Cardinals since joining the conference to start the 2014-15 season.
Holloway and the Wolfpack placed fourth at the NCAA Championships for the third year in a row, tying the best mark for an ACC team. NC State won five event titles at the NCAA Championships, setting a league record for most NCAA event titles by an individual school.
Under Holloway, NC State claimed its fourth consecutive Men’s Swimming and Diving title at the 2018 ACC Championships.
Ableman oversaw Miami divers that had a standout year. Hurricane senior Wally Layland earned Honorable Mention All-America honors after placing in the top 16 in the 1-meter competition at the 2018 NCAA Championships.
Miami’s Alicia Blagg won the 3-meter competition at the 2018 ACC Championships, and Layland finished second in the competition. Layland also placed fourth on the 1-meter.
Sanchez coached the Tar Heels’ Duncan to an Honorable Mention All-America nod at the 2018 ACC Championships. The North Carolina diving coach also oversaw the first Tar Heel diver since Ned Meekins in 1958 to win both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions at the ACC Championships.
Female Swimmer of the Year: Mallory Comerford, Louisville
Male Swimmer of the Year: Andreas Vazaios, NC State
Female Diver of the Year: MaryEllen Targonski, Duke
Male Diver of the Year: Greg Duncan, North Carolina
Female Freshman of the Year: Mariia Astashkina, Louisville
Male Freshman of the Year: Nicolas Albiero, Louisville
Female Swimming Coach of the Year: Arthur Albiero, Louisville
Male Swimming Coach of the Year: Braden Holloway, NC State
Female Diving Coach of the Year: Randy Ableman, Miami
Male Diving Coach of the Year: Abel Sanchez, North Carolina
Some of these are okay and no brainers (Comerford). Men’s swimmer of the year… there could have been a trio of other Wolfpack members to get this and I would be okay with it. Held, Stewart, or Ipsen would all have been acceptable I feel like.
Then comes the rest. Biggest robbery of this was the ACC men’s diver of the year. Duncan didn’t even final at NCAAs, and only scored 6 points. In every year that I can recount, diver of the year was who scored the most points at NCAAs. Duncan wasn’t even in the top 3 of this… so coach of the year for diving should have easily gone to the Miami coach.
Male Freshman… Read more »
Yeadon and Albiero both finished with 22 individual points at NCAAs. Albiero finished 6th in the 100 back and 9th in the 200 fly, plus swam on all five of Lousville’s scoring relays (three top eight and another two top sixteen finishes).
Its a sign of the conference’s strength and bright future that a debatable case could be made for several awards. Comerford and Holloway seem to be the only 2 that there is little to debate about. With multiple programs on the rise, ACC has a promising future. Hopefully in the future stars like Haas, Conger, Seliskar, Ledecky, Hu, Shebat will stay on the east coast for their collegiate careers.