CSCAA Names All Division III Swimming and Diving Qualifiers All-Americans
April 13 - (NORFOLK, Va.) - The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has selected its All-America teams for the 2019-20 season and have awarded all Division III qualifiers the honor after the CSCAA Board adjusted the criteria due to the cancellation of the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
This isn't the first time the association adjusted All-America criteria. The first CSCAA All-America team was published in 1924, thirteen years before the first men's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship. The first women's All-America team was published in 1975, seven years prior to the first NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship. During much of that time, the team was selected by a panel of coaches. In 1985 the honor was standardized around the NCAA Championships with the top eight finalists receiving first-team recognition and consolation finalists being named Honorable Mention.
"I think this is a great move and recognition from the NCAA and CSCAA, and a bright spot in a tough spring for all our student-athletes," said head coach Matt Kinney. "It's nice for them to receive the acknowledgement of all the hard work and success from this past season - and probably the only equitable decision based on previous NCAA results and the variability of scoring at NCAA's. I believe our 24 student-athletes would have all had the opportunity to score in the top 16 based on our training and prior experiences at NCAA's as a team. And though we would have rather had the opportunity to compete and see those results in action, this feels like it takes a bit of the sting away from having the championships cancelled."
The 24 Tartans scheduled to compete at this year's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships before the cancellation were the most in a single year for the school. For the women, 11 athletes receive the honor including senior Emma Nicklas-Morris (Winston-Salem, N.C. / RJ Reynolds) who would have been making her fourth appearance at the national meet where she earned three All-America honors and six All-America Honorable Mention awards the past three seasons. Senior Mary Day (Warren, N.J. / Mount Saint Mary Academy) was an All-American Honorable Mention awardee in the 400-yard medley relay in 2018 while junior Jessica Chau (Ridgewood, N.J. / Ridgewood) twice performed to All-America Honorable Mention status in the 200-yard backstroke. Nicklas-Morris had two times ranked inside the top 16 this year while freshman Bonnie Wang's (Vancouver, BC / Collingwood School) time in the 200-yard backstroke was 10th. Freshman Tiffany Tseng's (Westford, Mass. / Westford Academy) time in the 200-yard backstroke was just outside the top 16 at 18th while senior Taylor Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) would have been making her first appearance at the championships and was seeded 20th in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Two relays held times that were 17th in the nation with two others there were 20th and 23rd leaving for great opportunity to finish in the top 16 in all four.
The complete list of honorees is:
• Clare Brown (Freshman) - 400 Free Relay
• Taylor Brown (Senior) - 1650 Free
• Jessica Chau (Junior) – 200 Back
• Mary Day (Senior) - 400 Free Relay
• Emma Graham (Junior) - 200 Free Relay
• Madeline Hoedemaker (Sophomore) - 200 Free Relay
• Mathea Myhrvold (Freshman) - 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay
• Emma Nicklas-Morris (Senior) - 200 Fly, 200 IM, 400 IM
• Emilia Schwallie (Freshman) - 1 mtr, 3 mtr
• Tiffany Tseng (Freshman) - 200 Back, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay
• Bonnie Wang (Freshman) - 200 Back