Women’s Swim & Dive All-Conference Awards: Record Setter Aballea (PP), CMS Rookie Diver Named Athletes of the Year

Multiple-SCIAC record-setter Nina Aballea of champion Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges first-year Simone Sabeeh were named the Athlete and Diver of the Year, respectively, atop the 2026 SCIAC Women’s Swimming & Diving All-Conference teams.

Aballea set a new individual SCIAC record in the 200-yard freestyle by 1.19 seconds, clocking a 1:48.59 as well as helping the 800 Free Relay team to set a new mark by 2.31 seconds at 7:21.56. The junior also claimed victories in the 100 Free, 400 Medley Relay and 400 Free Relay while placing seventh in the 200 IM and 10th on the 200 Medley Relay Sagehens ‘B’ squad that swam the third-fastest time in the conference.

Sabeeh became the first double-board winner at the Championship meet since 2022. The rookie’s 1-meter score of 450.65 was the best since 2023 and 3m of 462.85 was the best in more than a decade, just 29 point shy of the record 491.85 set in 2014.

Elyse Newlands of CMS earned Newcomer of the Year recognition after making six trips to the podium, including three individual events wins. The first-year claimed titles in the 200 IM, 100 Breast and 200 Breast while helping the 200 Medley Relay team to a SCIAC-record 1:41.58 in addition to runner-up finishes in the 200 Free Relay and 400 Medley Relay.

Caltech’s Diya Kumar was presented with the Character Award. An astrophysics and planetary science double major with a penchant for helping others and always keeping a bubbly and optimistic personality, Kumar has conducted research into planetary system resonance chains, circumbinary planet detection, multi-epoch spectral data investigating the variability of an isolated pre-main sequence stars and submitted more than a half-dozen manuscripts for publication. The senior has presented on related topics several times at Caltech, CSU Fullerton and the APS March meeting in Anaheim. Kumar serves as a teaching assistant, member of the Astronomy Undergraduate Student Advisory Board, on the SFC Astrophyics Committee and STEM Outreach Club, as a peer academic coach and RISE tutor with plans to attend graduate school upon graduation.

Coaching Staff of the Year honors were bestowed upon JP Gowdy and the Sagehen staff. Pomona-Pitzer set two relay and one individual SCIAC record as well as one individual meet record, with 20 individual All-SCIAC performances. The Sagehens swept the podium in the 200 Free and both the 100 and 200 Back en route to a hard-fought 84-point victory.

Sun Young Byun and Madeleine Kan each turned in the maximum seven All-SCIAC performances this year, bringing their career totals to 20 and 12, respectively. Fellow Athenas Mackenzie Mayfield, Annika Sharma and Katy Shaw also concluded their SCIAC careers with 24, 16 and 10 medal-winning performances, respectively, with Shaw capturing a seventh individual title. Newlands takes over as the most decorated continuing Athena already with six medals. Pomona-Pitzer’s Francesca Coppo takes over as the active leader in All-Conference nods at 17, with Aballea next at 10. Graduating seniors Sabrina Wang (11) and Chesna Pelka (nine) handed the Sagehen legacy off to the aforementioned duo as well as five-time individual All-SCIAC honoree Bennett Jones and rookie Ellie Burkhardt, who reached five podiums including in all three individual events. California Lutheran University’s Madi Bodhidatta netted a sixth career All-SCIAC accolade for the Regals in a final appearance at the SCIAC Championship.