{"id":356472,"date":"2019-03-06T17:07:38","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T00:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=356472"},"modified":"2019-03-06T17:07:38","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T00:07:38","slug":"stanfords-matt-anderson-named-pac-12-mens-swimming-and-diving-scholar-athlete-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/stanfords-matt-anderson-named-pac-12-mens-swimming-and-diving-scholar-athlete-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Stanford’s Matt Anderson Named Pac-12 Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stanford senior\u00a0Matt<\/strong> Anderson<\/strong>\u00a0was named the Pac-12 Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the 2018-19 season, the Conference office announced on Wednesday. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes who are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.<\/p>\n

Anderson, a native of Scottsdale, Ariz., boasts a 3.66 grade-point average studying human biology. He is a six-time All-American in both the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay. Anderson has record 11 top-10 finishes at the Pac-12 Championships and has competed at the NCAA Championships for three-straight seasons.<\/p>\n

Out of the pool, he is one of Stanford\u2019s most accomplished student-athletes. Anderson is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection, earning first team recognition in 2018 and second team in 2017. He was also named a CSCAA Academic All-American his sophomore year.<\/p>\n

Anderson is a dedicated advocate for student-athlete wellness and mental health awareness. He has served as the vice president of Stanford\u2019s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) from 2016-19, which aims to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity for all student-athletes; protecting student-athlete welfare; and fostering positive student-athlete image. He is also the co-president of Cardinal RHED (Resilience, Health and Emotional Development), a group dedicated to improving the lives of Stanford student-athletes on topics of mental health and prevention, wellness practices, nutrition, body image, and injury. With Cardinal RHED, he planned and organized the first annual GameFACES event, a platform for student-athletes to share stories about their experiences with mental health. With the help of sports psychologists at Stanford, he helped to create a course curriculum for peer mentoring classes that provide strategies for addressing mental health in the student-athlete community.<\/p>\n

Anderson has extended his efforts at the Conference level as a representative for Stanford at the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) in the Fall of 2017. SAAC is a forum for Pac-12 student-athlete leaders to promote camaraderie and cooperation while fostering a sense of Conference unity and pride. He\u2019s also worked with the NCAA in February 2018 at the APPLE Institute, an annual three-day national training institute for student-athletes, athletics administrators and campus partners dedicated to substance abuse prevention and health promotion of college athletes.<\/p>\n

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport\u2019s regular season. The athletics accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in voting for the award.<\/p>\n

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12\u2019s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men\u2019s basketball, women\u2019s basketball, beach volleyball, men\u2019s cross country, women\u2019s cross country, football, men\u2019s golf, women\u2019s golf, women\u2019s gymnastics, women\u2019s lacrosse, men\u2019s rowing, women\u2019s rowing, men\u2019s soccer, women\u2019s soccer, softball, men\u2019s swimming & diving, women\u2019s swimming & diving, men\u2019s tennis, women\u2019s tennis, men\u2019s track & field, women\u2019s track & field, women\u2019s volleyball, and wrestling. The award was first established during the 2007-08 academic year.<\/p>\n

Anderson and the rest of the Pac-12 will be competing this week at the 2019 Pac-12 Men\u2019s Swimming Championships in Federal Way, Wash., from March 6-9. \u00a0Pac-12 Networks is set to feature live coverage of the Pac-12 Swimming Championships on March 8 and 9, and will also be available via the Pac-12 Now app and Pac-12.com.<\/p>\n

ALSO NOMINATED:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n