BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Georgia swimming and diving coach Jack Bauerle, head diving coach Dan Laak and diver Jud Campbell were honored as the Southeastern Conference announced the 2001 swimming and diving awards as voted on by the league head coaches. The Diver of the Year award for the men was shared by Campbell and Tennessee's Gabe Chereches, while Bauerle was named the women's SEC Coach of the Year. Laak was named men's Diving Coach of the Year with Dave Parrington from Tennessee.

"We are certainly proud of our year-end honors, particularly on our athletes performances," Bauerle said. "Jud is arguably the best diver in the history of the program and he has had a great career here at Georgia. It is terrific to see (diving coach) Dan (Laak) so aptly rewarded."

Tennessee claimed women's Diver of the Year (Jamie Sanger), women's freshman Diver of the Year (Kylee Wells), men's Diving Coach of the Year (John Trembley) and the men's Swimmer of the Year (Mike Gilliam). Auburn received its share of awards as Caesar Garcia was named the male Freshman Diver of the Year, while Maggie Bowan was honored as the female Swimmer of the Year. Other honorees included Carlos Jayme of Florida (men's Freshman Swimmer of the Year) and Alabama's Anne Poleska (women's Freshman Swimmer of the Year).

Campbell, a senior from Camilla, Ga., finished in the top 12 of all three diving events for only the second time in his career at the U.S. Nationals in Midland, Texas, last week. Campbell finished seventh on the 1-meter springboard, missing the finals by less than two points. He took 10th place on 3-meter springboard and 12th on the10-meter platform.

Laak has coached four All-American and eight honorable mention All-Americans and most recently leading Campbell to top eight NCAA finishes over the past four seasons.

Laak has additional experience in many different facets of the international diving community. During the 1983-84 season, he served as a recruiting assistant at Vanderbilt University, and in 1987, he traveled to Zagreb, Yugoslavia, to serve as a U.S. Diving judge at the World University Games. Laak returned as a WUG judge during the 1999 games in Mallorca, Spain. In 1990, Laak served as a diving coach at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Minneapolis, Minn., and returned to the 1993 U.S. Olympic Festival in San Antonio, Texas, as one of seven judges. Most recently among his appointments, Laak was named Chairman of the NCAA Diving Rules Committee in 1997, a term that lasted through September 1, 2000.

Bauerle has been named the Southeastern Coach of the Year 10 times and in 1998 became the SEC's all-time winningest swimming coach. He was honored as the NCAA Women's Coach of the Year three of the last four seasons.

Last summer Bauerle returned from a very successful stint on the U.S. Olympic staff for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Six members of the U.S. Team have trained at Georgia under Bauerle, bringing home four gold medals and one silver medal. Most recently, Bauerle was named assistant coach for the women's national team for the 2001 World Championships in Japan. Bauerle has been asked to serve on the U.S. coaching staff for numerous international competitions, including the Pan Pacific Championship (1995 in Atlanta and 1999 in Australia), World Championships and also the World University Games.

Under Bauerle's direction, Georgia has had 142 All-America honorees, 27 Top 20 ranked teams, 92 SEC champions (71 individuals, 21 relay teams), 297 combined men's and women's dual meet wins, 17 NCAA individual championship titles and four NCAA relay champions, one World record (relay), five American records (4 individual, 1 relay), 33 Academic All-Americans, 16 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients, and 17 Olympians. In 1998 Bauerle was the recipient of the National Collegiate and Scholastic Swim Trophy, which is the highest honor a swimming and diving coach can receive.

During Bauerle's reign, the swimming and diving program has been equally successful in the classroom, as Georgia has been the No. 1 producer of NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship winners and Academic All-Americans. Georgia is the only school to have two NCAA Woman of the Year winners