COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With a program-record 3.40 grade point average (GPA) for the spring 2020 semester, the San Diego State swimming and diving team was named a College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team, announced today by the association.
"No team was unaffected by this spring's pandemic but San Diego State Athletic Director John David Wicker and President Adela de la Torre can and should be proud of their team and the work of (head coach) Mike Shrader," noted CSCAA Executive Director Greg Earhart.
San Diego State was one of 461 schools honored for their academic success. Teams were selected on the basis of their Spring grade point averages and in total represent 17,982 student-athletes.
The 2019-20 season was one for the record books as the Aztecs successfully defended their conference championship while setting new Mountain West-best marks in the 100 breast, 200 breast and the 200-yard medley relay at the 2020 MW Swimming and Diving Championships. SDSU also made noise at the conference title chase taking home eight individual titles and sweeping all five relay events for just the third time in conference history, while also recording the first podium sweep since 2017 in the 50 free. The Scarlet and Black brought home 35 all-MW honors for their efforts at the championships, a league-best mark.
While the NCAA Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards still rolled in for the Aztecs in the 2020 postseason. San Diego State saw a program-record six swimmers and a diver earn CSCAA all-American honors based on their achievements throughout the 2019-20 campaign: junior Elli Ferrin (200 medley relay), sophomore Sammy Geyer (100 breaststroke), Gonzalez (1-meter, 3-meter), senior Morganne McKennan (100 breaststroke), senior Alma Thormalm (200 medley relay), junior Klara Thormalm (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 medley relay) and senior Courtney Vincent (100 butterfly, 200 medley relay).
Additionally, the back-to-back Mountain West Champions swept all four of the conference's end-of-year award as Klara Thormalm was named MW Swimmer of the Year, Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez earned MW Diver of the Year honors, while Shrader and head diving coach Roland McDonald were each acknowledged as the conference's best with coach of the year honors. 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.