Mike Bottom, Felix Auböck Take Big Ten Men’s Coach & Swimmer of the Year Awards

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Felix Auböck & Mike Bottom won the Big Ten male swimmer and coach of the year for the 2019-20 season.

Michigan secured three of the four Big Ten Conference individual men’s swimming & diving postseason honors, with Ohio State earning the fourth award, the conference announced Wednesday. Wolverine senior Felix Auböck received Swimmer of the Year accolades, with junior teammate Ross Todd garnering Diver of the Year honors. Michigan’s Mike Bottom was selected as Swimming Coach of the Year, while OSU’s Justin Sochor claimed Diving Coach of the Year plaudits. The quartet earned Big Ten postseason recognition following a vote from the conference’s 10 head coaches.

Felix Auböck. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Felix Auböck was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year for the second time in his career, having previously claimed the award as a freshman in 2017. He is the 10th two-time Big Ten Swimmer of the Year in conference history and the first to do so in non-consecutive seasons since Northwestern’s Matt Grevers in 2004 and 2006. This also marks the 22nd time a Michigan student has been chosen as Big Ten Swimmer of the Year since the award was introduced in 1987.

A native of Vienna, Austria, and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Auböck earned All-America citations this season in the 200 free, 500 free, 1,650 free and 800 free relay. He also won three titles at this year’s Big Ten Championships in the 500 free, 1,650 free and 800 free relay, posting the nation’s second-fastest 500 free time (4:10.14), third-quickest time in the 1,650 free (14:30.10) and 13th-fastest time in the 200 free (1:33.03). It was also the fourth consecutive year Auböck won both individual distance events (500 free and 1,650 free), the first Big Ten swimmer to pull off that feat since Michigan’s Chris Thompson from 1998-2001.

Ross Todd, a resident of Adelaide, Australia, and Academic All-Big Ten honoree, etched his name in program annals as the first Wolverine to be selected Big Ten Diver of the Year in the award’s 34-year history. He was a three-time All-America selection this year in the one-meter, three-meter and platform diving events. In addition, he won the one-meter title at the Big Ten Championships, while finishing second on the three-meter board and third on the platform at the conference meet. Subsequently, he became the second Michigan student to earn Big Ten Diver of the Championships recognition, sharing the award with Ohio State’s Lyle Yost.

Mike Bottom. Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Mike Bottom received Big Ten Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year accolades for the sixth time in his career and the first since earning five consecutive honors from 2011-15. He recently completed his 12th season at Michigan, guiding the Wolverines to their 41st Big Ten title and first since 2016. It was also Bottom’s eighth men’s swimming & diving conference crown at Michigan, good for sixth in Big Ten history.

For Justin Sochor, it’s the second time in his career he has been named Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year after he shared the 2016 award with Minnesota’s Wenbo Chen. Sochor completed his sixth season at Ohio State this spring, helping the Buckeyes to a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships, their best showing at the meet since 2015. He also coached Yost to top-three placements in all three diving events at the Big Ten Championships, including a victory in the platform competition.

In February, the Big Ten announced the award recipients for Swimmer of the Championships, Diver of the Championships and Freshman of the Year, as well as the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honorees. These individual award recipients are listed below along with Wednesday’s selections.

Swimmer of the Year

Felix Auböck, Sr., Michigan

Diver of the Year

Ross Todd, Jr., Michigan

Swimming Coach of the Year

Mike Bottom, Michigan

Diving Coach of the Year

Justin Sochor, Ohio State

Freshman of the Year

Brendan Burns, Indiana

Swimmer of the Championships

Bruno Blaskovic, Jr., Indiana

Co-Diver of the Championships

Ross Todd, Jr., Michigan
Lyle Yost, Fr., Ohio State

Sportsmanship Honorees

Brock Brown, Jr., Indiana
Anze Fers Erzen, So., Iowa
Jacob Montague, Sr., Michigan
Nehemiah Mork, Sr., Michigan State
Nick Saulnier, Sr., Minnesota
Jack Thorne, Gr., Northwestern
Jacob Siler, Jr., Ohio State
Austin Wilson, Sr., Penn State
Nick McDowell, Sr., Purdue
Eric Geunes, Sr., Wisconsin

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

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