Claire Weinstein of the California women's swimming & diving team was named the ACC Women's Freshman of the Year, the conference announced Thursday.
 
Weinstein becomes the first Golden Bear to win a major ACC award and does so at the end of a memorable first season in collegiate swimming. The 2024 Team USA Paris Olympian headlined the 2026 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships for Cal, winning a national championship in the 500-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 4:30.09. It was the program's first individual title since 2019.
 
Weinstein also dropped 15.76 seconds off her personal best to take second place in the 1,650 free, took eighth in the 200 free, and helped the Bears to a third-place finish in the 800 free relay. In all, she competed in five different NCAA finals earning five First-Team All-America honors and led Cal to a fourth-place finish in the team standings, its highest in five years.
 
Over the course of her first season, Weinstein etched her name on Cal's top-10 list in five different events, won 12 races and hit 26 podiums.
 
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