Courtesy: The ACC
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Virginia’s Kate Douglass and Virginia Tech’s Youssef Ramadan were named the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Swimmers of the Year and highlight the ACC’s yearly award winners for the 2022-23 Swimming and Diving season.
The honors were determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches.
Douglass was voted the ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Ramadan was selected as the ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year. North Carolina’s Aranza Vazquez earned ACC Women’s Diver of the Year honors while Miami’s Max Flory was voted ACC Men’s Diver of the Year.
Virginia’s Aimee Canny was selected as the ACC Women’s Freshman of the Year, while Tommy Janton of Notre Dame was named the ACC Men’s Freshman of the Year.
Virginia head coach Todd DeSorbo was voted ACC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season. NC State head coach Braden Holloway was selected ACC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.
North Carolina’s Yaidel Gamboa was named the ACC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year and Miami’s Randy Ableman was selected ACC Men’s Diving Coach of the Year.
Douglass is a two-time Honda Award nominee and two-time College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) and ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Year who helped lead Virginia to its third consecutive NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship. The Pelham, New York, native, has won 15 NCAA titles and accumulated 28 All-America honors. She led the Cavaliers with three individual wins at the 2023 NCAA Championship, setting American, NCAA and US Open records in all three. She was also part of UVA’s fourth-straight ACC Championship, winning three ACC individual titles to total 25 ACC titles overall (individual and relay). Douglass was named the 2023 ACC Women’s Most Valuable Swimmer at the ACC Championships and was named to the CSC First Team Academic All-America.
Ramadan made history as Virginia Tech’s first NCAA Champion in program history, winning the 100 fly at the 2023 NCAA Championships after swimming the second-fastest time in NCAA history. He earned All-America honors in the 50-yard free, 100-yard free and 100-yard butterfly.
Vazquez is the first diver in UNC history to win an individual diving title, writing history for the Tar Heels as the 2023 1-meter and 3-meter NCAA Champion. She was named the 2023 CSCAA Diver of the Year and the ACC Women’s Most Valuable Diver. Vazquez was the first diver since 2008 to sweep all three diving events at the 2023 ACC Championships.
Flory was named the back-to-back ACC Men’s Most Valuable Diver after sweeping all three diving events at the 2023 ACC Championships, the first to do so since 2014. He successfully defended his title on the 3-meter and his win on the platform also marked the seventh year in a row a Miami diver finished atop the podium.
Canny swam the final leg of the 400 medley relay which set American, NCAA, Conference, Meet and Pool records at the NCAA Championships and she also finished third in the 200-yard freestyle. The Ksyna, South Africa, native earned All-America honors in the 800 Free Relay, 200 Free, 400 Med Relay. She also placed second in the 200 free at ACC Championships.
Janton helped lead Notre Dame to its best finish in program history at the NCAA Championships. He was a member of the record-breaking 200-yard medley relay and lowered his own shcool record in the 100-yard backstroke. He also became the first Notre Dame swimmer to break 1:40 in the 200 backstroke (1:39.45). Janton earned All-America honors in the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke.
The CSCAA Women’s Team Coach of the Year for the third straight season, DeSorbo led the Virginia women to their third straight NCAA Championship. The Cavaliers are just the fifth program in history to win three consecutive NCAA championships. This year Virginia won 11 events, sweeping all five relays – the fourth program in history to do so – and added six individual titles. The Cavaliers posted six American, NCAA & US Open record times during the meet and three UVA records. Virginia also won their fourth straight and 14th ACC Championship in the last 15 years.
Holloway won ACC Men’s Coach of the Year honors for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. He guided the NC State men to their second consecutive and eighth ACC championship in the last nine seasons. Holloway led the Wolfpack to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships that featured 13 All-America honors and three individual champions in Aiden Hayes (200-yard butterfly), Will Gallant (1650-yard free) and the 200 medley relay squad of Kacper Stokowski, Mason Hunter, Nyls Kortanje and David Curtiss, who set NCAA, ACC, US Open, pool, program and NCAA Championships records.
Gamboa garnered ACC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year honors following Vazquez’s historic year. He was also named the CSCAA Division I Women’s Diving Coach of the Year following a season where UNC had five NCAA Championship qualifiers along with a dual national champion – the first diver in UNC history.
Ableman earned ACC Men’s Diving Coach of the Year honors for the sixth time, following Miami’s sweep of the diving events at the ACC Championships. With Flory atop the podium, the Hurricanes’ Mohamed Farouk took silver in the platform event. Flory and Farouk’s 1-2 finish marked the seventh consecutive year a Miami diver won the event.
2022-23 ACC Swimming & Diving Annual Awards
Women’s Swimmer of the Year: Kate Douglass, Virginia
Men’s Swimmer of the Year: Youssef Ramadan, Virginia Tech
Women’s Diver of the Year: Aranza Vazquez, North Carolina
Men’s Diver of the Year: Max Flory, Miami
Women’s Freshman of the Year: Aimee Canny, Virginia
Men’s Freshman of the Year: Tommy Janton, Notre Dame
Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Todd DeSorbo, Virginia
Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Braden Holloway, NC State
Women’s Diving Coach of the Year: Yaidel Gamboa, North Carolina
Men’s Diving Coach of the Year: Randy Ableman, Miami