The Big Ten Conference, one of the NCAA’s “Power 5” conferences, has announced the recipients its end of season awards. These awards, as compared to the Championship honors announced at the end of the Big Ten Championship meet, are intended to encompass results from the whole season, including the NCAA Championships, rather than just the conference championship event.
After voting between the coaches and swimmers with the conference concluded, Michigan’s Maggie MacNeil earned Swimmer of the Year, Minnesota’s Sarah Bacon was awarded Diver of the Year and Wenbo Chen Diving Coach of the Year, and Ohio State’s Bill Dorenkott was honored as Swimming Coach of the Year.
MacNeil, who represents Canada internationally, was named the Swimmer of the Year after being named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. At Big 10s, MacNeil won the 50-yard freestyle (21.44), 100-yard freestyle (47.36), 100-yard butterfly (49.68) and 400-yard freestyle relay (3:11.61). She then went on to win NCAA titles in both the 100 butterfly (48.89) and 100 freestyle (46.02), becoming the first woman to smash the 49 second barrier in the former of the two events. MacNeil was also named the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) 2021 Division I Swimmer of the Year. MacNeil is already qualified to compete at the 2021 Olympic Games via her World Championship title in the 100 butterfly from 2019.
Bacon, who was the 2019 World Championships silver medalist in the 1m diving event was a double NCAA Champion this season after winning both the 1-meter (357.20) and 3-meter (408.60) events. For her performances, she was named the 2021 CSCAA Division I Diver of the Year. At the Big Ten Championship, Bacon placed 4th on the 3-meter board with a score of 369.00 points.
Dorenkott was awarded his second consecutive Coach of the Year award after coaching Ohio State to the Big Ten Championship title. Over the course of the meet, his swimmers won the 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard individual medley, 500-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard breaststroke, and 200-yard freestyle relay. At the NCAA Championships, Ohio State finished 7th overall with a program record of 215.5 points.
Chen was awarded the Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year for the 8th time following Minnesota’s successes at both the NCAA Championships and the Big Ten Championships. Along with the aforementioned Bacon, Chen also had multiple additional divers score at the Big Ten Championships. He was named the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Diving Coach of the Year for the 4th time as well.
Big Ten Team Placement at the 2021 NCAA Championships
6) Michigan 224.5
7) Ohio State 215.5
15) Indiana 102
16) Northwestern 96
19) Wisconsin 61
20) Purdue 56
24) Minnesota 40
26) Nebraska 33
Pretty sure the “Big 10 team placement” table isn’t quite right, unless I’m not understanding what it is supposed to be saying?
It’s how the big 10 teams placed at NCAAs
Coach Bill is the GOAT