Gretchen Walsh Named ACC Scholar-Athlete of Year, Finalist for Honda Award With Alex Walsh, Bella Sims, Aranza Vazquez

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Virginia junior Gretchen Walsh has been named the ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and is one of four finalists for the prestigious Honda Award.

She is a Honda finalist for swimming and diving along with Virginia’s Alex Walsh, Florida’s Bella Sims and North Carolina’s Aranza Vazquez Montano.

Walsh helped Virginia to its fourth consecutive NCAA title and fifth consecutive ACC championship this season. She was recognized by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America’s (CSCAA) as its Division I Women’s Swimmer of the Year and she was the Most Valuable Swimmer at the 2024 ACC Championships.

At the NCAAs, Gretchen Walsh won three individual events (50 free, 100 free, 100 fly) and set the fastest times ever in those races. She also swam legs on all four of UVA’s championship replays teams – 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay.

Alex Walsh won the 200 individual medley, 400 IM and 200 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships and was on three (200 freestyle, 400 medley and 400 freestyle) winning relays.

Sims captured two individual 2024 NCAA Swimming Championship titles in record-setting fashion winning the 500 freestyle and the 200 free with school, conference and pool records. The freshman from Henderson, Nev., also swam the lead leg in the 800 free relay helping her team to the NCAA title and a school, conference and pool record. She has earned seven All-America honors in her first season.

Vazquez Montano repeated as NCAA champion on the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards.

The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 48 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2024 Honda Cup, which will be presented during a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 24, 2024, at 7 PM ET, from its new home in New York City.

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