MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Sunshine State Conference announced the 2025 women’s swimming individual awards on Tuesday afternoon. The three-time defending NCAA Division II National Champion Nova Southeastern Sharks had two honorees, as Head Coach Ben Hewitt was named the SSC Women’s Swim Coach of the Year and Kristina Orban was recognized as the SSC Freshman of the Year.
League coaches vote on the SSC Swimmer, Freshman, and Coach of the Year awards following the NCAA Division II National Championship. All-SSC swimmers were selected earlier this season following the conference championship meet, which was held February 12-16 at Florida Aquatics Swimming Training in Ocala.
Orban collects Freshman of the Year accolades following her national titles in the 200 Free and 800 Free Relay. In addition to the 200 Free and 800 Free Relay, Orban was named an All-America in the 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay, and 100 Back (HM). The Malmo, Sweden product is part of the 200 Medley Relay squad that owns the SSC overall records. She also holds the conference meet records in the 200 Free, 200 Free Relay, and 200 Medley Relay. Orban becomes the fifth Shark to earn SSC Women’s Swimming Freshman of the Year honors and the first since 2022-23.
Hewitt five-peats as SSC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year, earning the award for a league-leading seventh time after piloting the Sharks to a third consecutive national championship. With Hewitt’s guidance, the Shark swimmers won three individual/relay national titles at the NCAA championship, broke two conference records, and set three SSC meet records. Additionally, 10 NSU women won a combined 47 All-America honors.
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