Honda Sport Award: Abbey Weitzeil, Erika Brown, Beata Nelson, Maggie MacNeil Finalists

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Cal senior Abbey Weitzeil, who set an American record in the 50-yard free to become the first woman ever under 21 seconds in the event, has been named a finalist for the Honda Sport Award for women’s swimming & diving for the second year in a row.

Weitzeil lowered her American record in the 50 free on Dec. 5 at the Minnesota Invitational when she touched the wall in 20.90 seconds. Weitzeil, who was named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month for December for her effort, has held the American mark since March 4, 2016, when she went 21.12 before her enrollment at Cal. She reset the record on her way to the NCAA title in March 2019 with a time of 21.02. Overall, Weitzeil owns the top two times and five of the top six times ever in the 50 free.

Later in the 2019-20 season, Weitzeil broke the Pac-12 meet record in the 50 free when she won the race in 21.03 seconds. She also lowered the Cal dual-meet and Spieker Aquatics Center records in the 50 free (21.73) and 100 free (47.79), as well as the Stanford pool record in the 50 free (21.89). Weitzeil earned Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week recognition twice for her performances during the dual-meet season.

Weitzeil was also a finalist for the Honda Sport Award last year when she was also voted the 2019 Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year. In addition, she was tabbed last month as a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award given to the top amateur athlete in the country.

A Golden Bear swimmer has won the Honda Sport Award seven previous times – Mary T. Meagher (1985, ’87), Natalie Coughlin (2002, ’03), Dana Vollmer (2009), Caitlin Leverenz (2012) and Missy Franklin (2015). Both Meagher in 1987 and Franklin in 2015 went on to claim the Honda Cup as the top female student-athlete in all of college athletics.

The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards for the past 44 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics.”

In addition to Weitzeil, the other nominees are Erika Brown of Tennessee, Maggie MacNeil from Michigan and Wisconsin’s Beata Nelson.

The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the Collegiate Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). The Honda Sport Award winner for swimming & diving will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.

— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Cal Athletics. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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