Matt Hutchins had a junior season for the ages, and now he will be adding yet another accolade to his seemingly never-ending list of honors.
The distance swimmer was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Year after a breakout performance at the 2016 NCAA National Championships.
Hutchins, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, earned two top-six finishes at NCAA’s last week—third place in the 1,650-yard freestyle, and sixth place in the 500-yard freestyle. Both of those finishes broke school records and gave Hutchins All-American designation. His NCAA accomplishments helped lead the Badgers to an 18th-place finish, their best performance as a team in three years.
He also earned three top-three finishes at the 2016 Big Ten Championships earlier this month. He placed second in both the 500 and 1,650, and third as a member of the 800-yard freestyle relay team. He also placed 10th in the 200-yard freestyle.
Hutchins, the 2015 Big Ten champion in the 500-yard freestyle, was named second team All-Big Ten this year, and was awarded Swimmer of the Week honors twice.
Hutchins is the first male in the history of the UW swimming and diving program to receive B1G Swimmer of the Year accolades, and is the first Swimmer of the Year of any gender since Maggie Meyer received the award in 2011.
