Every year, the NCAA grants $7,500 post-graduate scholarships to 174 student-athletes who are either in their final year of NCAA eligibility or have exhausted their eligibility. The awards are given on the basis of both athletic and academic competition, and considering that there are over 400,000 student athletes in this country, it is indeed an incredible honor to receive one of the awards.
For each of the NCAA’s 3 seasons, 58 scholarships are given (29 for men, and 29 for women), and so far this year, swimmers have ruled the awards. During the winter season, swimmers won over half of the available scholarships by taking 30 back to the pool, with 17 going to female swimmers and 13 going to male swimmers.
For reference, the next closest sport thus far were the 24 awards earned by soccer players during the fall season.
The full list of swimmers earning post-graduate scholarships is below. Amongst the most easily-recognizable names on the list are:
Brett Fraser: the University of Florida grad who was the 2011 NCAA Champion in the 200 free;
Kaylee Jamison, a 5-time All-American from Minnesota;
Michigan’s Margaret Kelly who was a 7-time NCAA All-American;
Two-time Texas A&M team captain Casey Strange;
Liz Smith, the 2010 Pac-10 Champion in the 100 breaststroke from Stanford;
Georgia’s Chelsea Nauta, who scored 24 points for Georgia at NCAA’s last year and was also a part of their American-Record 800 free relay;
and one of the 2011 NCAA Championships best stories, Mark Dylla, who finally earned his long-missing National Championship in the 200 fly.
Full men’s list | Full women’s list
NCAA Page about their post-graduate scholarship program