NSU Dominates All-SSC Swimming Honors

Sharks earn SSC women’s coach of the year, men’s and women’s freshman of the year and men’s swimmer of the year.

The Nova Southeastern University swimming and diving program earned a combined 14 All-Sunshine State Conference honors, as announced by the conference office Friday, March 27.

Led by the SSC women’s coach of the year, head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron, NSU collected the most SSC awards in program history, winning eight of the 20 awards on the women’s side and six of the 20 awards on the men’s side. The next highest combined award total went to Florida Southern with 10.

Wrapping up a stellar first year at NSU, Thiago Sickert (So., Vila Velha, Brazil) was named the Men’s SSC Swimmer of the Year, voted by coaches around the league. Sickert broke nine school records and five SSC records, all while winning the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle national championship. His teammate Anton Lobanov (Fr., Novosibirisk, Russia) was named the Men’s SSC Freshman of the Year after breaking two NCAA Division II records in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke, winning the national championship in both events. Lobanov broke six school records and eight SSC records over the course of his freshman season.

Bryndis Hansen (Fr., Akureyri, Iceland), the 50-yard freestyle national champion, was named the Women’s SSC Freshman of the Year for her brilliant debut season at NSU. Hansen broke nine school records and 11 SSC records in 2015. Along with her school and SSC records, her national championship time of 22.53 in the 50-free broke the NCAA Division II record at the time.

The women featured four student-athletes on the All-SSC First Team, as Courtney DeVeny (Fr., Estero, Fla.), Hansen, Malin Westman (Fr., Harryda, Sweden) and Emma Lawrenz (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) placed in the top eight. DeVeny, the 400-yard individual medley national champion, finished second in points-total to the Women’s SSC Swimmer of the Year from Lynn University, Rebecca Matthews. Emma Wahlstrom (So., Stockholm, Sweden) and Georgina Allin (So., Somerset, England) earned spots on the All-SSC Second Team, the first SSC accolades of their careers.

On the men’s side, Marco Aldabe (So., Alicante, Spain) earned All-SSC First Team after a stellar sophomore campaign. Aldabe won the Men’s SSC Freshman of the Year in 2014. Blake Woodrow (Fr., Fort Myers, Fla.) joined Aldabe on the All-SSC First Team, tied with his conference rival from Florida Southern, Jesus Marin, for the eighth most points at the conference meet.

Rounding out the awards are the Men’s Swimmer of the Year and Freshman of the Year, Sickert and Lobanov, respectively, who earned All-SSC second team for their performances at the conference meet.

Below is the full list of awards, as announced by the conference office.

2015 All-SSC Women’s Swimming Team

First Team:
Rebecca Matthews (Jr.), Lynn
Courtney DeVeny (Fr.), Nova Southeastern
Bryndis Hansen (Fr.), Nova Southeastern
Brit Bayes (Fr.), Tampa
Malin Westman (Fr.), Nova Southeastern
Alli Crenshaw (Jr.), Florida Southern
Natalia Garriock (Fr.), Saint Leo
Emma Lawrenz (Sr.), Nova Southeastern

Swimmer of the Year: Rebecca Matthews, Lynn
Freshman of the Year: Bryndis Hansen, Nova Southeastern
Coach of the Year: Hollie Bonewit-Cron, Nova Southeastern

Second Team:
Kelsey Gouge (Jr.), Florida Southern
Emma Wahlstrom (So.), Nova Southeastern
Thalie Carmigniani (Jr.), Lynn
Heather Burns (Jr.), Florida Southern
Nicole Weber (So.), Saint Leo
Dar Raz (So.), Florida Tech
Georgina Allin (So.), Nova Southeastern
*Jacinda Whittenburg (Fr.), Florida Southern
*Elizabeth Fris, (So.), Florida Southern

2015 All-SSC Men’s Swimming Team

First Team:
Daniel Bis (Fr.), Saint Leo
Pawel Trenda (Jr.), Saint Leo
Marco Palacios (So.), Florida Southern
Raul Garrastazu (Jr.), Florida Southern
Marco Aldabe (So.), Nova Southeastern
Luis Rojas (Sr.), Florida Southern
Evan Jacob (Jr.), Saint Leo
*Blake Woodrow (Fr.), Nova Southeastern
*Jesus Marin (So.), Florida Southern

Swimmer of the Year: Thiago Sickert, Nova Southeastern
Freshman of the Year: Anton Lobanov, Nova Southeastern
Coach of the Year: Duncan Sherrard, Florida Southern

Second Team:
Yagoh Kubagawa (Fr.), Florida Tech
Thiago Sickert (So.), Nova Southeastern
Runar Borgen (So.), Tampa
Jan Urbaniak (Fr.), Saint Leo
Matheus Assis (Jr.), Saint Leo
Anton Lobanov (Fr.), Nova Southeastern
Jeremy Parker (Jr.), Tampa
Juan Tolosa (Jr.), Florida Southern

*Due to a tie in accumulated individual point totals for 8th place, there are nine swimmers on the all-conference first team