Abbey Weitzeil Named Cal Women’s Team MVP

Courtesy: Cal Athletics

In this age of the coronavirus and social distancing, the Golden Bears held their annual team banquet virtually, bringing together the entire team, coaches, support staff, parents and friends of the program through a Sunday morning Zoom call.

While the event didn’t completely mirror previous years’ experiences, the 70-minute gathering provided many of the same elements with awards and thank yous all around. There were 48 participants from around world, including from as far away as England, the Netherlands, Australia and the Philippines.

Senior Abbey Weitzeil earned team Most Outstanding honors for the second year in a row, adding to her long list of accomplishments for 2019-20. Last week, she was named the winner of the 2020 Honda Sport Award for swimming as the national swimmer of the year.

During the competitive season, Weitzeil reset her American record in the 50-yard free and became the first woman in history to break the 21-second barrier when she was timed in 20.90 during a December meet in Minnesota. Later, she captured the Pac-12 title in the 50 free in a meet-record 21.03. In addition, Weitzeil is a finalist for the AAU Sullivan Award, given to the top amateur athlete in the country, with the recipient announced April 29.

Other awards announced Sunday were:

• Golden Bear Award – Aislinn Light
• Coach Wick Leadership Award – Abbey Weitzeil
• Most Improved Award – Alicia Wilson
• Warren Hellman Scholastic Award – Elizabeth Bailey
• Diving Coaches Award – Briana Thai
• Karen Moe Humphreys Swimming Coaches Award – Isabel Ivey

Eight freshmen received their first-year awards and membership into the Big C Society: Chloe Clark, Emma Davidson, Sarah DiMeco, Ashlyn Fiorilli, Cassie Graham, Rachel Klinker, Eloise Riley and Ayla Spitz.

In addition, 15 swimmers and divers were presented as CSCAA All-Americans for qualifying to the NCAA Championships: Sara DiMeco, Alia Harrison, Rachel Klinker, Courtney Mykkanen, Briana Thai, Sarah Darcel, Eloise Riley, Alicia Wilson, Maddie Murphy, Ema Rajic, Ayla Spitz, Robin Neumann, Keaton Blovad, Isabel Ivey and Abbey Weitzeil.