Klara Thormalm, Melissa Mirafuentes Named Mountain West Swimmer, Diver of the Year

GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 19: Swimmers compete in the 100 Breastroke Prelims on day three during the Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships held at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on March 19, 2021 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Carlos Morales/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
Klara Thormalm; Photo Courtesy: Carlos Morales

San Diego State swimmer Klara Thormalm has been named the Mountain West Swimmer of the Year for a second straight year. She’s joined among the honors by Wyoming diver Melissa Mirafuentes. The results were released in a video on the conference website Tuesday.

UNLV coach Ben Loorz, who led the Rebels to their first title since 2005, is the swimming coach of the year. Mirafuentes’ mentor, Ted Everett of Wyoming, is the diving coach of the year.

Thormalm, a senior, was all-conference in all seven of her events at the Mountain West Championships and qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 50 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 200 breast. The Mountain West Championships Swimmer of the meet for a second straight year, she won the 100 breast and was part of the victorious 200 medley relay.

Thormalm set a personal best in the 50 free at 22.38 seconds at NCAAs and placed 11th in the 100 breast, setting the conference record at 58.68.

Mirafuentes was named the Mountain West Championships Diver of the Meet for a second consecutive year. The sophomore won the platform event at the conference championships and took silver in both the one-meter and three-meter events. She competed at NCAAs in all three events, her best finish a 13th place in platform.

She’s the second Wyoming diving to win the award, joining Stephanie Ortiz in 2009. Her coach, Everett, earned Wyoming its third diving coach of the year honor, joining those won by Ben Herdt in 2006 and 2009.

Loorz led UNLV to the Mountain West title for the first time in 16 years; that’s also the last time a UNLV coach (Jim Reitz, 2005) won this honor. That competition required a thrilling conclusion, with UNLV winning the concluding 400 free relay, edging Nevada by .10 seconds to win the banner by a scant nine points. UNLV tallied 1,349 points to Nevada’s 1,340 and San Diego State’s 1,309 in a scintillating championships.

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