April 2, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. - This year's recipients for the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Swimming and Diving awards features the league's first-ever national diving champion, three NCAA All-Americans and two repeat honorees, as announced today by the league office. All of the awards were determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.

Virginia Tech's Jessica Botzum and Miami's Brittany Viola both claimed their respective hardware for the second straight year, as Botzum was named ACC Swimmer of the Year and Viola got the nod for ACC Diver of the Year. The other superlatives went to a pair of Virginia Cavaliers with Elizabeth Shaw tabbed ACC Freshman of the Year, while Mark Bernardino took ACC Coach of the Year honors.

Botzum closed out a stellar career at Virginia Tech with a list of firsts. She became the first Hokie to capture the league's top rookie accolade in 2005 and then last year's ACC Swimmer of the Year award. She now joins four other swimmers in ACC women's swimming history to have claimed the Swimmer of the Year accolade for two straight years. The senior garnered All-America distinction in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships the last two years. At this year's NCAA Championship, Botzum set a new ACC record in the 200 breast as she finished sixth with a time of 2:10.13. The native from Raleigh, N.C., was crowned ACC champion in both the 100 breast and 200 breast at the league's championship in February and also collected all-conference honors as part of the winning 200 medley relay team.

Miami continued its dominance in diving for the fourth straight year, as Viola was the league's unanimous choice for ACC Diver of the Year. The sophomore follows up another impressive campaign after winning the league's rookie award in 2007 to become the first ACC diver in league history to capture a national title, winning the platform at the 2008 NCAA Championships. Viola also picked up All-America honors in the 1-meter diving event at the NCAAs. The Orlando, Fla., product was named ACC Most Valuable Diver at the 2008 ACC Championship as she made a sweep of all three diving events (one-meter, three-meter and platform). In addition, she earned a spot in the league's record book as the first ACC platform diving champion.

A second unanimous pick by the head coaches this year was Virginia's Shaw for ACC Freshman of the Year. The native from Richmond, Va., set three conference records in just her first season with the Cavaliers and was instrumental in helping the team capture their sixth ACC championship title. At the 2008 NCAA Championship, she established an ACC record in the 200 butterfly as she placed fourth (1:54.98) and earned her first All-America certificate. An All-ACC performer in four events, she was crowned the ACC champion in the 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley events. She was also part of the 400 medley relay team that shattered the ACC meet record at the league's championship in February.

After guiding the Cavaliers to their sixth ACC championship title and first since 2004, Bernardino was selected by his peers as the league's Coach of the Year. Under Bernardino in 2008, the Cavaliers boasted one NCAA All-American (Liz Shaw), one NCAA All-America relay team (800 freestyle), two ACC individual champions, three ACC championship relay teams, and 11 All-ACC performers.

ACC Swimmer of the Year
Jessica Botzum, Virginia Tech

ACC Diver of the Year
Brittany Viola, Miami
**unanimous choice

ACC Freshman of the Year
Elizabeth Shaw, Virginia
**unanimous choice

ACC Coach of the Year
Mark Bernardino, Virginia