Sarah Bacon, a redshirt senior diver from the University of Minnesota, was named the Honda Sport Award winner for Swimming & Diving as announced today by Chris Voelz, Executive Director of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 45 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2021 Honda Cup, which will be presented on a telecast on CBS Sports Network on June 28th at 9 pm ET.
Bacon was chosen by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Finalists included Sophie Hansson (NC State), Maggie MacNeil (Michigan) and Paige Madden (Virginia).
“I really appreciate being nominated for this award”, said Bacon. “To say I am honored to have received this amongst the other three amazing female swimmers is such an understatement! I am grateful for this and want to say a huge thank you and shout out to everyone who has helped me along the way in my collegiate career, especially Wenbo Chen."
Hailing from Indianapolis, Ind., Bacon is the two-time Big Ten Diver of the Year and was named the 2021 CSCAA Division I Women’s Diver of the Year. She is a four-time NCAA diving champion, including sweeping the springboard diving events at this year’s championship meet. The eight-time CSCAA All-American finishes her career as the winningest woman in Minnesota school history in any sport.
She holds the NCAA record in the 1-meter and is the Big 10 Championship and school record holder in the 3-meter springboard. She is the first student-athlete in school history to win a Honda Sport Award from any sport and is the first-ever diver to win the Honda Sport Award for Swimming and Diving.
Overall, she is an 11-time medalist in national and international diving competitions. She was a gold medalist in the 1-meter dive at the 2019 USA Diving National Championship and the 2019 Pan American games. In addition, she is a three-time 3-meter gold medalist in synchronized diving having won at the 2019 USA Diving Winter National Championships and the 2020 FINA Grand Prixs in Germany and Spain.
“I think it's great for her because she's put in a lot of time and worked very hard at being the best that she can be”, stated head diving coach Wenbo Chen. “This is a special year for her, not just because of the pandemic, but because of all she's gone through with taking an olympic year last year that was postponed to this year. She's been training so hard for that, so she absolutely deserves this award. She's put a lot into this sport."
The CWSA, celebrating its 45th anniversary year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its partnership in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs.
About Honda Corporate Social Responsibility
For more than 60 years in the U.S., Honda has been committed to making positive contributions to the communities where its associates live and work. Honda’s mission is to create products and services that improve the lives of people while conducting its business in a sustainable manner and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Accordingly, Honda believes in helping people reach their life’s potential through its focus on improving children’s health, inspiring underrepresented students, preserving the environment for future generations, creating safety for everyone, and strengthening our communities. Learn more at http://csr.honda.com/.