SMU diver Sitz has been named the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men’s Diver of the Year, while head diving coach Schmidt was recognized as ACC Men’s Diving Coach of the Year, according to an April 9 announcement from the conference. This marks the first time that a Mustang athlete or coach has received either of these honors.
The awards come after a standout season for both Sitz and Schmidt. Sitz won SMU’s first national title in men’s 1-meter diving at the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships with a score of 428.10 and also earned a silver medal on 3-meter, breaking his own school record twice in one day and posting SMU’s highest-ever score in that event. His improvement since last year was significant; his finals mark on 3-meter was over 139 points higher than his previous performance at nationals.
Sitz also found success at both conference and national levels throughout the season. He secured SMU’s first individual ACC Championship by winning gold on 1-meter with another school record and added a bronze medal on 3-meter. During the year, he collected five ACC Diver of the Week honors, bringing his career total to eleven—second most in conference history for that award.
Outside collegiate competition, Sitz medaled three times at the USA Diving Winter Nationals and earned podium finishes at the World University Games, ending a long drought for Team UniUSA in springboard events.
Schmidt’s coaching tenure has seen four Mustangs earn All-American status under his guidance and all three program diving records broken during his time leading SMU’s divers. He has now coached four different athletes to conference diver of the year honors across multiple leagues and has claimed eight conference diving coach of the year awards himself over nine seasons with SMU.
As an athlete himself at Indiana University, Schmidt was recognized as a four-time All-American and Big Ten Champion.
