Virginia's Kate Douglass grabs her second CSCAA Women's Swimmer of the year award
Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Kate Douglass is set to take home her second CSCAA Women's Swimmer of the year award. The Virginia team's head coach Todd DeSorbo has also been named the Swimming coach of the year for the third straight year.
Douglass had a dream start to the 2023 season after shattering the American and the NCAA record of 200 yards by clocking 1:48.37.
Kate Douglass won and set NCAA records in the 200-yard IM (1:48.37), 100 fly (48.46), and 200 breaststroke (2:01.29), giving one of the best NCAA championship performances in history.
Todd DeSorbo, who has been Virginia's head coach for five seasons, guided the Cavaliers to their third consecutive NCAA team title.
The Diver of the year award will go to UNC’s Aranza Vazquez. And Diving coach of the year award winner is her coach Yaidel Gamboa.
All CSCAA awards are decided based on votes by Division I swimming and diving head coaches who are members of the CSCAA.
Kate Douglass' life and career so far
American swimmer Kate Douglass was born in Pelham, New York, on November 17, 2001. Allison and William Douglass are her parents. She is the family's eldest kid. Will Douglass, a brother, and Abby Douglass, a sister, are two of her siblings. She completed her high school education in 2019 at the Pelham Memorial.
Douglass began her swimming career at the Westchester Aquatic Club. But she switched to Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club in 2017.
Since the very beginning of her profession, she has had several high points. She went on to break the 34-year-old record held by Olympian Dara Torres in the 3-14 National Age Group in 2016, while she was a sophomore in high school. In the 50-yard freestyle, she had a time of 22.32, which was 0.12 seconds faster than Dara's record.
Soon after, she clocked a 22.04 in the 50-yard freestyle to tie Simone Manuel's 15–16 National Age group record.
She did not, however, make the Olympic squad for Rio when she originally applied for the American Olympic trials in 2016.
She participated in the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships the year after, in 2017, and the US Junior squad, where she won silver in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay.
Kate Douglass made it to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and did not let it down. In the 200-meter medley, she took home a bronze medal. She went on to have a fantastic 2021 FINA Short Course World Swimming Championships, winning a total of five medals.
Douglass then went on to participate in the 2022 NCAA Championships. She put on an unbelievable run and came home with seven gold medals, three of which were individual. In the same year at the World Aquatics Long Course Championships, she had a decent performance and secured three bronze medals.
She then went on to compete in the 2022 Short Course World Swimming Championships, where she had yet another incredible run. She had seven medals in the competition, out of which five were golds and two were silvers.
Kate Douglass has already started the year 2023 with a bang and only time will tell how this year is going to end for her.