Brett Saunders Headlines List of All-SSC Swimmers
MELBOURNE, Fla. - Eighteen student-athletes have been selected to the 2019-20 All-SSC Men's Swimming Team. Voting for the team was conducted among the Sunshine State Conference men's swimming coaches.
The University of Tampa, 2020 SSC men's champion, is represented by six honorees, including three First Team award winners. Florida Southern College, Lynn University, Nova Southeastern University, and Saint Leo University are also represented in the league awards this year.
SSC Records / Top Times | All-SSC Teams
Brett Saunders of Tampa and Matias Lopez of FSC, along with NSU's Vincent Lijoi and Samuel Brettmann, repeat as First Team selections during their careers. While Brettmann previously earned First Team accolades in 2016-17, Saunders, Lopez, and Lijoi repeat from last season. In total, 12 of the 18 swimmers listed received All-SSC recognition last season.
Saunders was recently named the top male athlete at the 2020 SSC Championship and became the first Spartan to win the conference's Swimmer of the Meet honor. Three of the last four SSC men's Swimmers of the Meet award winners have gone on to be named league Swimmer of the Year in the same season. Lopez and teammate Brandon Dyck are the only swimmers listed to earn All-SSC honors three times, both grabbing all-league honors in 2017-18, 2018-19, and this season. Lopez was also named Freshman of the Year in 2017-18.
Coach of the Year, Swimmer of the Year, and Freshman of the Year will be voted on by league coaches following the NCAA Division II championship. This year's NCAA Championships will be held March 11 - 14 at the SPIRE Institute Aquatics Center in Geneva, Ohio. The NCAA will announce championship selections and seeding on Wednesday, February 26th, here.
| 2020 ALL-SSC Men's Swimming First Team | |||
| Name | School | Yr. | Hometown |
| Brett Saunders^ | Tampa | Sr. | Newark, Del. |
| Vincent Lijoi^ | Nova Southeastern | Sr. | Bradenton, Fla. |
| Aleksei Averchenko* | Nova Southeastern | Sr. | Usolie-Sibirskoe, Russia |
| Samuel Brettmann† | Nova Southeastern | Jr. | San Antonio, Texas |
| Gabe Parnell | Tampa | So. | Longwood, Fla. |
| Matias Lopez^‡$ | Florida Southern | Jr. | Asuncion, Paraguay |
| Spencer Hohm~ | Nova Southeastern | So. | Springfield, Ill. |
| Jared Fitzgerald | Tampa | Jr. | Nassau, Bahamas |
| 2020 ALL-SSC Men's Swimming Second Team | |||
| Name | School | Yr. | Hometown |
| Luke Hene | Tampa | Sr. | Gainesville, Ga. |
| Mohamed Masmoudi | Lynn | Fr. | Tunis, Tunisia |
| Matthew Daniel* | Saint Leo | So. | Alton, Ill. |
| Alec Dawson* | Nova Southeastern | Jr. | East Palatka, Fla. |
| Luka Prostran | Florida Southern | Fr. | Zagreb, Croatia |
| Cole Smith* | Florida Southern | So. | Nixa, Mo. |
| Brandon Dyck^‡ | Florida Southern | Jr. | Cary, N.C. |
| Brian Valedon* | Tampa | Sr. | Brewster, N.Y. |
| 2020 ALL-SSC Men's Swimming Honorable Mention | |||
| Name | School | Yr. | Hometown |
| Alessandro Xella*! | Nova Southeastern | So. | Imola, Italy |
| Yannick Smith | Tampa | Jr. | Atlanta, Ga. |
^ = 2018-19 All-SSC First Team
* = 2018-19 All-SSC Second Team
~ = 2018-19 All-SSC Honorable Mention
! = 2018-19 Freshman of the Year
† = 2017-18 All-SSC First Team
‡ = 2017-18 All-SSC Second Team
$ = 2017-18 Freshman of the Year