Courtesy: Cal Athletics
BERKELEY – Cal’s women’s swimming & diving team came together virtually for its annual banquet Saturday to celebrate the 2020-21 season and hand out its end-of-the-year awards. More than 45 coaches, student-athletes, parents and alumni joined from around the world for the Zoom call.
Junior Isabel Ivey earned Cal’s Most Outstanding Award after her record-setting performance during the season. Ivey captured three individual events at the 2021 Pac-12 Championships – 100 free, 100 back, 100 fly – and was a part of four conference-winning relays. She was voted both the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Meet and the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year
At the NCAA meet, Ivey anchored the 200 free relay to a national championship and finished among the top four in the 100 free, 100 back and 100 fly. During the regular season, she set both Cal pool and dual-meet records in all three of her specialty events.
Other awards announced Saturday were:
- Golden Bear Award – Rachel Klinker
- Coach Wick Leadership Award – Elizabeth Bailey
- Most Improved Award – Elise Garcia
- Warren Hellman Scholastic Award – Ali Harrison, Ayla Spitz
- Diving Coaches Award – Briana Thai
- Karen Moe Humphreys Swimming Coaches Award – Ema Rajic, Ayla Spitz
Six freshmen received their first-year awards and membership into the Big C Society: Mara Allen, Emily Gantriis, Téa Laughlin, Bella Riley, Isabelle Stadden and Kayla Haigh.
Ten Golden Bears were also recognized as CSCAA All-Americans for their performance at the NCAA Championships: Emily Gantriis, Elise Garcia, Isabel Ivey, Rachel Klinker, Robin Neumann, Ema Rajic, Eloise Riley, Ayla Spitz, Isabelle Stadden and Alicia Wilson.
As a team, Cal captured the Pac-12 team championship for the fifth time in its history. The Bears later placed fourth at the NCAA meet to extend their streak of top-5 finished to 15 years in a row – the longest current run in the country.
Go Bears!