STANFORD, Calif. - Simone Manuel has been named a finalist for the Women's Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year award.
The award recognizes an individual sport athlete and team sport athlete whose performances over an 11-month time span have been exceptional. Past winners include Venus and Serena Williams, Abby Wambach, Meryl Davis, Simone Biles, Yani Tseng and Candace Parker.
Fan voting is open now through Aug. 3 and can be accessed by clicking here. Stanford women's water polo standout Maggie Steffens is a team sport nominee.
The public and the Women's Sports Foundation's Awards Committee select the award winners by a 50-50 vote. The winner will be the athlete who receive the highest combined share of a public vote (50 percent of composite) and the Awards Committee vote (50 percent of the composite).
Winners will be crowned at the 39th Annual Salute to Women in Sport awards gala on Wednesday, October 17 in New York City.
Manuel won the Honda Cup as the nation's top collegiate women's athlete in June, and is a 14-time NCAA champion, including six national titles at the 2018 NCAA Championships. A team captain from Sugar Land, Texas, Manuel is a 21-time All-American and was just the fifth woman to win three NCAA titles in the 100-yard freestyle, winning each year she competed.
A communication major, Manuel finished her collegiate career with six American records, seven NCAA records and seven school records. She was a member of two NCAA championship teams and two Pac-12 championship squads.
The first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming, Manuel holds four Olympic medals (two gold, two silver).
