Swimming towards success in the pool and the classroom | Schools

SALISBURY - Five swimmers from Catawba’s Men’s and Women’s teams achieved Academic Honorable Mention All-American status at the conclusion of the 2011-2012 academic year.  They were recognized for achieving a 3.6 or better GPA and achieving an NCAA B qualification time.

The student-athletes included Katia Kruglov of Israel from the women’s team, and four individuals from the men’s team including Christoffer Stolt of Sweden, Mikael Karlsson of Sweden, Andrew McCollister of Salisbury, N.C., and Toomas Goutt of France.

Both men’s and women’s swim teams achieved Academic All-American Team status by achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better.

According to the teams’ coach Betsy Graham, Catawba’s men’s swimming teams have a running total of 23 straight semesters of being named Academic All-American teams .   “From day 1, the men’s team made it their team goal to be a 3.0 GPA or higher team,” Graham said.  “I think that speaks to their dedication to being great student-athletes.”

The Catawba swim teams will compete in their first home meet of the new academic year at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 29 against Mars Hill.