Lucas Henveaux, Gretchen Walsh Named ACC Swimmers of the Year
California’s Lucas Henveaux and Gretchen Walsh of Virginia were named ACC Swimmers of the Year on Thursday.
California, in its first year in the conference, had the lion’s share of the awards, with men’s freshman of the year Yamato Okadome and men’s coach of the year Dave Durden. Todd DeSorbo joined Walsh as women’s coach of the year.
Miami’s Chiara Pellacani and Jack Ryan of Stanford were named divers of the year, with their coaches Dario di Fazio and Patrick Jeffrey earning the top diving coach awards. Leah Shackley rounds it out as the women’s freshman of the year. All of the awards were voted on by ACC coaches.
2024-25 ACC Swimming & Diving Annual Awards
- Women’s Swimmer of the Year: Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
- Men’s Swimmer of the Year: Lucas Henveaux, California
- Women’s Diver of the Year: Chiara Pellacani, Miami
- Men’s Diver of the Year: Jack Ryan, Stanford
- Women’s Freshman of the Year: Leah Shackley, NC State
- Men’s Freshman of the Year: Yamato Okadome, California
- Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Todd DeSorbo, Virginia
- Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year: Dave Durden, California
- Women’s Diving Coach of the Year: Dario di Fazio, Miami
- Men’s Diving Coach of the Year: Patrick Jeffrey, Stanford
Walsh capped her storied NCAA career with 25 NCAA championships, 23 ACC titles, 28 All-ACC selections and 27 All-America nods. The Olympic gold medalist swept the 50 freestyle, 100 free and 100 backstroke at ACCs. At NCAAs, she won the 50 free, 100 free and 100 butterfly, as well as four relay titles. Virginia won the national title for the fifth straight year, with Walsh earning CSCAA Women’s Swimmer of the Year for the second straight year.
DeSorbo won this award for the sixth straight season, to augment his fourth consecutive CSCAA Women’s Coach of the Year nod. Virginia won 10 event titles at NCAAs – six individual, four relay – in becoming just the third program to win five NCAA swimming and diving titles in a row.
Henveaux led Cal to the ACC men’s title in its first season in the conference, as well as a third straight runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships. Henveaux was part of a school record 800 free relay at ACCs, then set the conference record in winning the 500 free. At NCAAs, he and the Golden Bears set the NCAA and U.S. Open record in the 800 free relay. The Belgian Olympian improved his program records in the 500 free and 1,650 free, finishing third in those two events as well as third in the 400 individual medley.
Durden is a conference coach of the year for the 13th time in his career. The Golden Bears won the 2025 ACC title in their first participation, winning six gold medals. For the 15th consecutive season, Cal finished first or second at NCAAs.
Pellacani likewise adds conference honors to national recognition, earning CSCAA Women’s Diver of the Year. She won the national championship in the 1-meter springboard event and was the runner-up on 3-meter. The Italian Olympian won 3-meter gold at ACCs. She helped di Fazio, in his first season at the helm of the Hurricanes, make it a successful one. Pellacani and Mia Vallee went 1-2 on 1-meter at NCAAs, and both were named All-American on both springboards.
Ryan starred in Stanford’s first season in the ACC, winning the conference title in 1-meter. He finished second at NCAAs in that event as well as third on 3-meter. Jeffrey led both Ryan and women’s platform diver Anna Lemkin to conference titles in the Cardinal’s debut season, while Misha Andriyuk finaled on platform at men’s NCAAs. It’s his fourth career conference coach of the year, honor, joining three in the Pac-12.
Shackley had a breakout season in her first campaign at NC State. At ACCs, she was second in the 200 backstroke and third in the 100 back to go with two relay bronze medals. At NCAAs, Shackley finished fourth in the 200 back, sixth in the 100 back and ninth in the 100 fly to go with a pair of sixth-place relay finishes.
Okadome is already the second-fastest 100 breaststroker in Cal history. The native of Japan was part of the program record-setting 200 medley relay from NCAAs, helping the Golden Bears finish second in the team category. At NCAAs, the Golden Bears finished third in the 200 medley relay and fourth in the 400 medley. Okadome was sixth in the 200 breast and seventh in the 100 breast.
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