COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –The back-to-back Mountain West Champion San Diego State swimming and diving team swept all four of the Mountain West end-of-year awards on Tuesday. With the sweep, the Aztecs became just the second program in conference history to earn all four end-of-year awards in the same season (Nevada, 2014-15).
Junior Klara Thormalm was named Mountain West Swimmer of the Year while for the second consecutive season, sophomore Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez was honored as the Diver of the Year, head coach Mike Shrader earned Swimming Coach of the Year honors and Roland McDonald was selected as the Diving Coach of the Year.
Thormalm was named Swimmer of the Meet at the MW Championships after collecting three individual titles (50 free, 100 breast, 200 breast) and swimming in four of the Aztecs' championship-winning relay teams (200 medley, 400 medley, 200 free, 400 free). The junior was an intricate part of the Aztecs' 200 medley relay team that not only qualified for the NCAA Championships with an 'A' cut time but set a MW All-Time record, MW Championship record and SDSU program record with their gold-medal swim of 1:36.30. Thormalm earned All-MW Status in all seven aforementioned events.
Thormalm enters the 2020-21 season holding both program records in the breaststroke. Her 100 breast school-record mark of 58.93 was set at the conference title chase in 2019 but she took home the 2020 MW individual title in the event with a time of 59.36, setting a new Mountain West Championship meet record. Thormalm set the Aztec record in the 200 breast of 2:08.30 at this year's conference championship, which not only led the junior to top the podium but set a new conference record in the event and topped the previous SDSU program record by over two seconds.
Lechuga Gonzalez became just the eighth diver to earn more than one end-of-year conference honor in her career fueled by a fantastic performance at the MW Championships. The sophomore placed first at the MW championships on the 3-meter dive with a score of 382.35 while earning podium finishes on the other two springboard events. With her performances at the NCAA Zone E Championships, she became the only MW Diver to qualify for NCAA Championships on both 1 and 3-meter this season (as well as the only conference diver to qualify on the 1-meter).
Lechuga Gonzalez saw performances throughout the year that earned her all three program diving records, scoring 327.15 on the 1-meter and 383.03 on the 3-meter in the Aztecs' season-finale against USD while her third-place finish of 292.30 at the conference championship earned her the platform record. Lechuga Gonzalez did not record less than a third-place final ranking in all her 1-meter, 3-meter, and platform dive performances throughout the 2019-20 season.
Shrader is now a seven-time Mountain West Swimming Coach of the Year after leading the Aztecs to back-to-back Mountain West Championships in 2019 and 2020, put the Aztecs in the lead for the most swimming and diving conference titles among active members.
2019-20 was another successful season for the Aztecs as they defended their conference championship and qualified three individual swimmers, a relay squad and one diver to compete in the 2020 NCAA Championships (canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). San Diego State continued its perfect dual-meet streak for the second consecutive season, posting an 8-0 record throughout the 2019-20 season.
In addition to their success in the water, the Aztecs posted their highest team grade-point average in program history during the Fall 2019 semester, collectively earning a 3.34 team GPA.
At the conference championships, the Aztecs set new conference-best marks in the 100 breast, 200 breast and the 200-yard medley relay, with both individual record-setting swims coming from Mountain West Swimmer of the Meet junior Klara Thormalm. Including three new school records, SDSU's swimmers posted 23 times that rank inside the program's top-10 performances throughout the 2019-20 season.
Shrader's seven Mountain West Swimming Coach of the Year awards mark as the most for any coach in conference history.
McDonald, now in his tenth year as the head of the diving program on the Mesa, collects his second Mountain West Diving Coach of the Year award and fifth overall conference coach of the year award in his illustrious career. Before his arrival to SDSU, McDonald was a three-time Diving Coach of the Year in the Colonial Athletic Association at George Mason.
Not only did McDonald coach Lechuga Gonzalez to another conference diver of the year award but saw all seven of his divers earn qualifying marks throughout the season to compete in the NCAA Zone E Championships. The Aztecs' divers posted eight scores that rank in the program's top-10 efforts in 2019-20, including Lechuga Gonzalez's three program-record setting presentations.
With the end-of-year honor, McDonald becomes just the seventh diving coach in conference history to win the coaching award more than once in their tenure.
Aztecs Sweep MW End-of-Year Honors
