Teri McKeever Named Pac-12 Coach of Year; Isabel Ivey Tabbed Top Swimmer

Teri McKeever; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

After leading Cal to a Pac-12 team title and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships, junior Isabel Ivey has been named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year and Teri McKeever the Pac-12 Coach of the Year.

Ivey won three events at the Pac-12 championship meet, placing first in the 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle. She also helped the Bears to conference crowns in all four of her relay swims and was named the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Meet for her efforts.

At the NCAA Championships last week in Greensboro, North Carolina, Ivey posted a trio of top-four finishes, taking third in the 100 free and fourth in both the 100 back and 100 fly. Her 100 free time of 46.95 was a lifetime best and moved her up to third all-time at Cal in the event. In addition, Ivey anchored the 200 free relay to a national title and swam on two other relays that placed among the top four.

Over the course of the season, Ivey was a two-time Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week, and she set school dual-meet and Spieker Aquatics Complex records in the 100 free and 100 fly.

Ivey becomes the 11th Golden Bear to receive Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year honors and the fifth to earn the honor in the past 10 years. Cal’s previous recipients were: Mary T. Meagher (1987), Sarah Anderson (1989), Marylyn Chiang (1999), Haley Cope (2000), Natalie Coughlin (2001-03), Dana Vollmer (2009), Caitlin Leverenz (2012), Elizabeth Pelton (2013), Missy Franklin (2015) and Abbey Weitzeil (2019).

Teri McKeever is receiving the Coach of the Year award for the ninth time in her career after being named in 1999, 2002, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019. She has guided the Bears to five Pac-12 team championships during her tenure, all since 2009.

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Last week, Teri McKeever led Cal to its 15th consecutive top-5 finish at the NCAA meet – the longest current streak in the country. The Bears have won four national titles during the run (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015).

2021 WOMEN’S SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: Isabel Ivey, Jr., CALIFORNIA (Gainesville, Fla.)

Captured three individual titles (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle) and contributed to two relay wins (400 medley, 200 freestyle) at the 2021 Pac-12 Championships, earning Swimmer of the Meet honors.
First Cal swimmer to win three individual Pac-12 titles in a single Conference championship since Abbey Weitzeil (2019).
Took third place in the 100 free (46.95) at the 2021 NCAA Championships, and finished fourth in the 100 fly (50.68) and 100 back (50.85).
Moved into sixth place in Cal’s program record book in the 100 back and third all-time in the 100 free.
Earned two Pac-12 Swimmer of the Week honors in 2021.
Tallied 227.5 points across the Pac-12 and NCAA Championship events.

2021 WOMEN’S SWIMMING FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Kaitlyn Dobler, USC (Portland, Ore.)

Secured her first two Pac-12 Championship titles in the 100 (57.85) and 200 (2:06.53) breaststroke events.
Became the first USC freshman to place first in multiple Conference championship events since Rebecca Soni (2006).
Posted her first career A-final performance at the 2021 NCAA Championships, finishing as runner-up in the 100 breast (57.46).
Added the sixth-best 50 free time (21.92) in school history, finishing third in the consolation final.
Tallied 159 points across the Pac-12 and NCAA Championship events, second only to Isabel Ivey.

2021 WOMEN’S SWIMMING COACH OF THE YEAR: Teri McKeever, CALIFORNIA

Led the Bears to their first Pac-12 title since 2015, holding off defending champion Stanford, 1519.5-1445.
Cal swept all five relay events at the Conference championship and saw five swimmers (Isabel Ivey, Robin Neumann, Alicia Wilson, Isabelle Stadden, Rachel Klinker) capture individual titles.
Coached Golden Bears to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, the program’s 15th-straight finish in the top-five.
Ten Cal swimmers finished in the top-20 of the Conference in points earned across both championship events.
Ninth career Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor.

2021 WOMEN’S DIVER OF THE YEAR: Delaney Schnell, R-Jr., ARIZONA (Tucson, Ariz.)

The 2018 Pac-12 Women’s Freshman Diver of the Year won both of her events — 1-meter springboard and platform — at the 2021 Pac-12 Diving Championships, en route to Diver of the Meet honors.
Won the Pac-12 1M event by nearly 30 points, posting a 345.45 score.
Earned fourth place in the 1M at NCAA Championships, scoring 334.45 points and contributing 15 points to the Wildcats’ score.
Broke the Pac-12 platform event record with a 383.35 prelims score, later winning the event (364.50) for a commanding victory of nearly 80 points.
Finished second in the platform at NCAA Championships with a score of 331.80, earning ARIZONA 17 points.

2021 WOMEN’S DIVING FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Farrah Volpintesta, USC (Bethel, Conn.)

Secured a top-10 finish at the Zone E Championships, placing 10th on platform
Finished her first Pac-12 Championships final in eighth-place overall and second to Nike Agunbiade on her team, earning the Trojans 22 points in the 1M.
Improved to seventh place on the 3M event, finishing third on her team behind Agunbiade and Savannah Stocker.
Took 10th place in the platform competition, securing the best finish of all Pac-12 freshmen in each of the three diving events.
USC’s second consecutive Freshman Diver of the Year honoree (Agunbiade, 2020) and sixth overall.

2021 WOMEN’S DIVING COACH OF THE YEAR: Hongping Li, USC

Coached two divers who qualified for the NCAA Championships (Nike Agunbiade, Savannah Stocker).
Helped lead USC to a fourth-place finish at the 2021 Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championships, with Agunbiade winning the 3M event and placing second on both the 1M and platform.
Coached Agunbiade to three top-25 finishes at NCAAs (ninth on platform, 14th on 1M, 24th on 3M) and Stocker to a 26th-place finish on 3M.
12-time Pac-12 Women’s Diving Coach of the Year recipient; also a five-time Men’s Diving Coach of the Year honoree.

— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Cal Athletics and the Pac-12. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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