Emma Svensson from Florida Gulf Coast University Nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year

After the conclusion of historic careers at FGCU, swimming & diving program record-holder Emma Svensson have been nominated for the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year award.

Now in its 25th year, the Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

Of the 480 nominees, 207 competed in Division I, 93 competed in Division II and 180 competed in Division III.

From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three nominees from each division and announces the top nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year.

The 2015 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced, and the Top 30 honorees celebrated, at the annual award ceremony Oct. 18 in Indianapolis.

Svensson (Upsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan), who was also inducted into the FGCU Hall of Fame alongside Carpenter, has maintained a 3.89 GPA as an economics major and an honors student at the same time as she has set multiple program records in the swimming pool, and was the fellow co-recipient of the prestigious Eagle Scholar-Athlete Award this past year.

The Swede became the captain of the FGCU swim team in 2013 and has been a mainstay on the FGCU’s President List for the last four years. Svensson was a research assistant for the FGCU Honors Program last year while having a concentration on the Eurozone crisis and finding business applications of calculus and behavioral economics. The mathematics minor has spent her time volunteering in the community through the FGCU Actuarial Science Club, Hope for Haiti and Mesina Children’s Hospital.

As a freshman in 2011-12, Svensson became the first Eagles’ swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Championships. She was named a Mid-Major All-American and earned CCSA All-Conference honors in addition to being honored as CCSA’s Most Outstanding Female Freshman Performer of the Championship Meet.

Her dominance continued throughout her sophomore campaign as she was selected as the NCAA Elite 89 Award Winner, again qualifying for the NCAA Championships while maintaining a 4.0 GPA and also notched her first CCSA Swimmer of the Year award.

She followed the impressive performance with a 2013-14 that saw her receive College Swimming Coaches Association of America Honorable Mention All-America and set six FGCU program records: two individually; 50 free (22.09), 100 free (49.13) and four as a member of a relay team; 200 free (1:30.24), 400 free (3:20.13), 200 medley (1:38.63), 400 medley (3:40.69). Her performances in the 50 free and 400 free relays also set CCSA records. At the NCAA Championships, she scored FGCU points for the first time in program history, placing 12th in the 50-yard freestyle with a 22.33 time.

This past season, the Swedish standout continued her spree of shattering records at the 2015 CCSA Championship meet, breaking her own mark in the 50 free with a CCSA and FGCU-program record time of 21.98. She was named CCSA Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Championship Meet. At the NCAA Championships, she scored FGCU’s first points at the meet, placing 12th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.12. Svensson also helped the Eagles earn their first ever points in a relay event when the 200-yard relay team touched the pads in a time of 1:37.55 to finish eighth. Svensson helped the Eagles finish a program-best 26th in the nation.

In 2014, Sarah Hansen (McKean, Pa./General McLane High School) was announced as FGCU’s NCAA Woman of the Year nominee after her tremendous four-year career with the women’s basketball program.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.

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Leah Studd

8 years ago

I can’t think of a more deserving student athlete. Emma is so many things to FGCU… An amazing swimmer, scholar, teammate … the list can go on and on. Above all, she is an all around amazing human, an absolute joy to be around! She makes you a better person, just by knowing her. She will be sorely missed by her FGCU swimming family!