LOS ANGELES – UCLA diving head coach Tom Stebbins has been named the Pac-12 Women's Diving Coach of the Year, as announced by the league Tuesday. In his 19th year, Stebbins is the second UCLA diving head coach to earn the award, joining Tom Scotty (1996).
UCLA sent four divers to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships under Stebbins' direction, as sophomore Eloise Belanger, senior Annika Lenz and juniors Ciara Monahan and Maria Polyakova each qualified for two events. Both Belanger and Polyakova advanced to the final round of two events, and Polyakova recorded Top-5 finishes in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions.
A dominating team performance at the NCAA Zone E Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz. paved the way to NCAAs for the quartet of Bruins, as Polyakova garnered victories in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events and set two new school records in the process. Previously, the junior claimed her second Pac-12 Championship in as many years when she captured the 3-meter title on the third day of events at the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships. She also recorded a second-place finish in the 1-meter event and a third-place performance in the platform competition. Lenz joined Polyakova on the 3-meter podium with a third-place finish.
Under Stebbins' eye, two of the conference's four Diver of the Month honors went to Bruins, as Polyakova collected the award for February, while Belanger was honored for her month of December. UCLA also had its first Diver of the Meet presented when Polyakova concluded her time at the Pac-12 Championships. Two Bruin divers were also named CSCAA All-Americans, as Belanger and Polyakova captured the honors following their NCAA performances.
Stebbins also guided Belanger and Polyakova in their training for competitions in Canada and Russia, respectively. Belanger, from Montreal, Quebec, secured a first-place finish in the 1-meter event at her home Canada's Winter Senior National Championships on Feb. 17, while Polyakova competed at the Russian Cup in Moscow (Feb. 2-3), where she recorded a second-place in the 3-meter competition, the junior's highest showing in her home country's national meet.