Seidt, Hansson, and Marsh Among 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Nominees

The NCAA announced on Tuesday afternoon a record 605 nominees for the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Award.

Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers.

A total of 53 swimmers & divers were nominated for the award.

Most Nominees, By Sport:

• Soccer – 114
• Basketball – 111
• Outdoor track & field – 96
• Indoor track & field – 87
• Volleyball – 87
• Softball – 60
• Swimming & diving – 53

Among the best-known swimming & diving names on the list of nominees are USC’s Louise Hansson, Duke’s Alyssa Marsh, and Kentucky’s Asia Seidt.

Hansson, a Swedish Olympian, is a three-time NCAA Champion, having won both the 100 fly and 200 fly in 2019 as a junior, as well as the 100 fly in 2018. Her time in the 100 fly at the 2019 NCAA Championships of 49.26 broke the NCAA Record – her second-such record-breaking swim in a month.

That time remains tied, with Michigan’s Maggie MacNeil, as the fastest 100 yard fly time in history.

Hansson plans to attend Loughborough University in the UK in the fall, where she’ll pursue a Master’s Degree in International Business while continuing to train toward the 2021 Tokyo Olympics – for which she’s been preselected.

Marsh finished her Duke career with 9 NCAA All-America honors. She graduated with 3 individual school records, in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly, and 3 relay school records. She was the first Duke female swimmer to earn 3 or more All-America honors in a season since Nancy Hogshead did so in 1981, and was a three-time team captain.

Marsh finished her college career with the second-fastest 50 fly split on a medley relay in NCAA history.

She recently moved to New Orleans to train for Teach For America, a program that sends teachers to work in low-income public schools around the country.

Kentucky’s Asia Seidt finished her career at Kentucky with 4 individual conference titles, 21 All-America honors, and an unblemished 4.0 GPA while majoring in kinesiology. She will attend Kentucky’s Physical Therapy Graduate Program in the fall. Seidt announced her retirement from competitive swimming in June.

She graduates with more All-America honors, NCAA Championship top 3 finishes, SEC Championship top-3 finishes, and All-SEC First Team selections than any other UK swimmer or diver, male or female, in program history.

She graduates holding 5 individual school records, was the 2019 Elite 90 recipient for having the highest GPA of all participants in the 2019 NCAA Championships, and earned both the 2019 Arthur Ashe Female Sport Scholar of the Year award and the 2020 SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.

The biggest diving name on the list is Texas’ Alison Gibson, who was the 2017 NCAA Champion on the 1-meter and who represented the US at the 2017 and 2019 FINA World Championships.

Other swimmers who were selected to compete at the 2020 NCAA Division I National Championship meet, which was ultimately canceled, include Julie Meynen of Auburn, Raena Eldridge of Texas A&M, Mackenzie Glover at NC State,Silja Kansakoski at Arizona State, Peyton Kondis at Houston, Lindsey Kozelsky at Minnesota, Alyssa Marsh at Duke, and Stanzi Moseley at Tennessee.

Representatives of swimming & diving teams have won the award 12 times in its 29-year history, more than any other sport.

Past Winners of the NCAA Woman of the Year, Swimmers & Divers

• 1992 – Catherine Byrne, Tennessee
• 1997 – Lisa Ann Coole, Georgia
• 2000 – Kristy Kowal, Georgia
• 2001 – Kim Black, Georgia
• 2003 – Ashley Jo Rowatt, Kenyon
• 2005 – Lauryn McCalley, Tennessee
• 2007 – Whitney Myers, Arizona
• 2009 – Lacey Nymeyer, Arizona
• 2010 – Justine Schluntz, Arizona
• 2011 – Laura Barito, Stevens
• 2015 – Kristin Day, Clarion
• 2016 – Margaret Guo, MIT

Selection Process

The nominees represent all three NCAA divisions, including 259 nominees from Division I, 126 from Division II and 220 from Division III. Nominees competed in 24 sports, with multisport student-athletes accounting for 128 of the nominees.

Member schools are each eligible to nominate their top graduating female college athlete annually; for the first time this year, the NCAA has allowed schools to nominate two honorees if at least one is a woman of color or international student-athlete.

Upon receiving nominations from its core member schools, each conference will then assess each nominee’s eligibility and select up to two conference nominees based on their respective achievements in academics, athletics, service and leadership. Conferences may recognize two nominees if at least one of the nominees is a woman of color or international student-athlete. Each conference office must submit its nominee(s) to the national office by 5 p.m. Eastern time Friday, July 10,

All nominees who compete in a sport that is not sponsored by their school’s primary conference, as well as associate conference nominees and independent nominees, will be sent to a separate pool to be considered by a committee. The committee will then decide the nominees to move forward to the conference round.

All conference-level nominees are forwarded to the Woman of the Year selection committee. The selection committee will choose the top 10 honorees in each division. From among those 30 honorees, the selection committee will determine the three finalists in each division. Finally, the members of the Committee on Women’s Athletics will vote from among the top nine finalists to determine the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year, who will be named this fall.

Normally, the finalists would be invited to a ceremony in Indianapolis that includes a day of service; however, with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it’s unlikely that the in-person ceremony will happen this year.

Full List of Nominated Swimmers

See all nominees here.