Swimmer Gretchen Walsh was named the Collegiate Lady Athlete of the 12 months on Monday night time, capping a profession on the College of Virginia that included 25 complete NCAA occasion titles, 9 of them particular person.
Walsh was given the Honda Cup throughout an awards ceremony. She is the ninth swimmer to win the award and the primary since Simone Manuel in 2018.
The Class of 2025 prime three finalists included Walsh, UConn basketball participant Paige Bueckers and Texas Tech softball pitcher NiJaree Canady. The highest three are voted on by almost 1,000 NCAA faculties, with the Honda Cup winner decided by the Collegiate Ladies’s Sports activities Awards board of administrators.
Walsh led Virginia to the 2025 NCAA girls’s swimming title and gained three particular person titles. She is also the two-time ACC Scholar-Athlete of the 12 months for swimming and diving.
On the 2024 Paris Olympics, Walsh gained two gold medals and two silvers, and she or he set two world data.
“We’re extremely pleased with her accomplishments each within the pool and within the classroom, and we stay up for watching her proceed to rise as she prepares for the World Championships and the 2028 Olympic Video games,” stated Chris Voel, the manager director of the CWSA. “We’re thrilled to welcome Gretchen to the CWSA household, becoming a member of the elite group of swimmers who’ve earned this prestigious honor earlier than her.”
Caitlin Clark gained the prior two Honda Cups.
Earlier swimming winners embrace Jill Sterkel (1981), Tracy Caulkins (1982, 1984), Mary T. Meagher (1987), Cristina Teuscher (2000), Tara Kirk (2004), Missy Franklin (2015), Katie Ledecky (2017) and Manuel (2018).