Courtesy: Georgia Athletics
ATHENS, Ga. – University of Georgia women’s swimming alumna Allison Schmitt was named to the Southeastern Conference’s 2023 Class of Women’s Legends, as announced by the league office in Birmingham.
Each of the SEC’s 14 member institutions are honored in the selection process. The women’s legends program began in 2001 with classes chosen every year except for 2021 and 2022.
The 2023 class will be honored at the 2023 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament, March 1-5 in Greenville, S.C. Each legend will be recognized during half-time of their teams first game of the tournament, as well as a group introduction at halftime of the second semifinal game on Saturday.
In college and on the international stage, Schmitt produced one of the most prolific careers in swimming history. With the Bulldogs, Schmitt led her team to the 2013 NCAA Championship, along with winning 11 individual national titles in her career. A 21-time All-American, she received the 2013 Honda Award for the nation’s best collegiate swimmer and was thrice named the university’s top female student-athlete.
Beyond Athens, Schmitt was a four-time Olympian, earning 10 overall medals, the most of any UGA product and fourth-most of any American swimmer. In 2012, she became Georgia’s first individual gold medalist by winning the 200-meter freestyle with an Olympic record-time of 1:53.61, eventually leaving London with five medals.
Schmitt is the second member of the Georgia women’s swimming and diving program to be named an SEC Legend, following Courtney Shealy in the inaugural 2001 class.