WAC Men’s Swimming and Diving Postseason Honors Announced
DENVER – Following a vote of the head coaches, the 2019-20 WAC men's swimming and diving individual awards have been named. Air Force's Zach Nelson was named WAC Swimmer of the Year and Grand Canyon's Pietro Hufnagel Toscani was named WAC Diver of the Year. Air Force's Wen Zhang was named WAC Freshman of the Year while Air Force's Rob Clayton was named WAC Swimming Coach of the Year and GCU's Hunter Shafer was named WAC Diving Coach of the Year.
Nelson was a three-time champion at the 2020 WAC Swimming and Diving Championships in Houston. He earned the conference title in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 52.46, the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:54.83 and the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:46.69.
Hufnagel Toscani earned WAC titles on the 1-meter with a score of 322.70 and on the 3-meter with a score of 358.40. He was named WAC Diving of the Week a total of five times on the season.
Zhang earns WAC Freshman of the Year honors after winning the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:33.93. He also placed third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:23.39 and fourth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 43.82.
Clayton earns his third WAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Falcons to their third WAC title in the past five seasons. A 1991 graduate of Wyoming, he was an outstanding swimmer in the WAC, earning the conference's Stan Bates Award for most outstanding athlete as a senior. He was an assistant coach at Brigham Young University before coming to USAFA in 1997.
Shafer earns WAC Diving Coach of the Year honors for the first time in just his second season at Grand Canyon. Prior to joining GCU for the 2018-19 season, he was the head diving coach at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, Calif. and has also served on many USA Diving committees. As a collegian, he was a two-time NCAA Division I qualifier at Northern Arizona.