The following is a press release courtesy of the CCSA:
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.TheCCSA.com) – UMBC senior Mohamed Hussein (Cairo, Egypt) has been voted the CCSA Men’s Swimmer of the Year, while junior teammate Ryan Green (Ellicott City, Md.) was tabbed the Men’s Diver of the Year. In addition, Florida Gulf Coast freshman Kira Toussaint (Amstelveen, Netherlands) earned the CCSA Women’s Swimmer of the Year award, while University of the Incarnate Word junior Kali Lents (San Antonio, Texas) was voted Women’s Diver of the Year by the Conference’s head coaches, the League announced today.
Hussein was named the men’s Co-Most Outstanding Swimmer at the 2014 CCSA Championships. The senior led the Retrievers to a second-place finish at the meet, taking first place and breaking the meet and conference records in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke. He added a second-place finish at the CCSA Championships and an NCAA “B” cut time, while breaking the UMBC record in the 200-yard backstroke. Hussein led the Retrievers’ 800-yard freestyle relay team to a first place finish at the conference meet, breaking the meet and conference record. He earned CCSA swimmer of the week honors three times this season and the Swimmer of the Year award in his first season competing in the CCSA.
Green was tabbed the men’s Most Outstanding Diver of the Meet at the 2014 CCSA Championship. He won the 3-meter competition at the Conference meet, setting the meet record with a score of 318.85, and finished second in the 1-meter event. Green scored a personal best (319.85) on the 1-meter board. He qualified for the NCAA Zones meet where he became the first UMBC male diver to advance to the finals. Green won a pair of CCSA Diver of the Week accolades this season and claims his first Diver of the Year award.
Toussaint became the first swimmer in CCSA history to appear in an NCAA “A” final. Toussaint placed 7th at the NCAA Championships in the 100-yard backstroke (51.81) and 12th in the 200-yard race (1:53.79). She earned the women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet at the 2014 CCSA Championship, winning the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard backstroke. Toussaint set four CCSA conference records and eight Florida Gulf Coast program records in her freshman campaign. She was named CCSA Swimmer of the week on Nov. 27 and claims her first Swimmer of the Year award.
Lents earned the women’s Most Outstanding Diver of the Meet honor. The junior won the 1-meter event with a meet record score of 292.70 and finished runner-up in the 3-meter event. She recorded five first-place finishes during the season. Lents set top marks for the year of 292.70 in the 1-meter competition and 311.85 in the 3-meter dive. She garners Diver of the Year honors in her first season competing in the CCSA.