BERKELEY – Record-setting sophomore Missy Franklin, who was named the NCAA and Pac-12 Swimmer of the Year this past season, added to her list of honors with Cal’s Most Outstanding Swimmer Award at the women’s swimming & diving team’s annual end-of-the-year banquet Sunday at the Univesity Club atop California Memorial Stadium.
In addition, other awards handed out went to:
Franklin, also the recipient of the Honda Award as the top collegiate female swimmer in the country, captured three individual races – 200-yard individual medley, 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke – and swam a leg on a pair of winning relays at the NCAA Championships in March. Her 200 free time of 1:39.10 established a new American record. In addition, Franklin placed first in the three individual events at the Pac-12 Championships in late February.
Nanfria completed her Cal career by placing 20th in both the 400 IM and 1650 free at the recent Pac-12 meet.
Acker, a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic choice the last two years and a coaches’ association Scholar All-American, is a French major with plans to attend medical school. In the pool, she placed 15th in the 200 free at the NCAA Championships and 12th in the 200 free and 13th in the 100 free at the Pac-12 meet.
Cheng, Klaren and Piehl served as team tri-captains this past season and each had an outstanding NCAA meet. Cheng set a PR while winning the consolation final of the 200 free in 1:42.82 and was a member of the Bears’ winning 800 free relay. Klaren took third in the 100 back and sixth in the 200 back, while Piehl was 10th in the 200 IM and eighth in the 200 free.
Smart qualified for the NCAA meet on platform, where she finished 19th in her first venture to the national meet. She is the second Cal diver ever to earn a place on the Golden Bear roster for NCAA’s.
Bootsma won her second career NCAA title in the 100 back in a personal-best 50.03 – the third-fastest time in history – was ninth in the 100 butterfly and helped both the 200 free relay and 200 medley relay to national crowns.
As a team, the Bears earned their fourth NCAA championship since 2009, as well as their fourth all-time Pac-12 title. In addition, 16 members of the team were voted to the Pac-12 All-Academic squad last week.
