It’s often purported that swimming teaches skills that help athletes in their classroom and career fields, and though it’s only anecdotal, the 2016 Forbes magazine “30 Under 30” lists are adding evidence to support that claim.
We reported earlier this week on Case Western Reserve swimmer Felipe Gomez, who was honored on the Forbes list specifically dealing with energy. Now another swimming connection has arisen: Iowa Hawkeye swimming alum Andrej Lenert has been named to the science “30 Under 30” list for his research on solar energy.
The Forbes magazine “30 Under 30” lists collect 30 of the top achievers and innovators under 30 years old in a host of different fields. There are 20 lists in all, ranging from finance to sports (where Katie Ledecky garnered honors) to Hollywood & entertainment to science, where the 29-year-old Lenert has excelled.
Forbes writes that Lenert, now a grad student at the University of Michigan, is researching a hybrid solar power system, “combining the best of both photovoltaic and solar thermal systems without their drawbacks.”
The website phys.org goes into the idea in further detail – you can read their piece here. Phys.org reports that (as of January 2014), Lenert and the professors who co-wrote a study with him had produced a solar thermophotovoltaic device that ran at 3.2% efficiency, when prevous experiments had been unable to better even 1% efficiency.
Lenert swam for the Hawkeyes from 2004 to 2008, earning varsity letters in all four years and earlier in his career, held five Yugoslavian national age group records.