Seidt Named CoSIDA At-Large Academic Team Member of the Year
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky swimmer Asia Seidt has been named the female recipient of the 2019-20 CoSIDA At-Large Academic Team Member of the Year award, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). In addition to the individual title, Seidt also earned CoSIDA At-Large Academic All-America First Team honors.
Merrimack College lacrosse senior attacker Charlie Bertrand joins Seidt as the male recipient of the individual honor.
The female at-large category includes the nation’s top student-athletes in gymnastics, tennis, golf, swimming, rowing, lacrosse, field hockey, beach volleyball, bowling, fencing, ice hockey, rifle, skiing, and water polo.
“This is truly an incredible honor,” Seidt said. “Going into college, you come in with the hope of being the best swimmer and the best student you can. There is so much focus on athletics and competing at such an elite level, especially at Kentucky and in the Southeastern Conference. Putting an emphasis on academics, being rewarded for it, and being able to accept this honor just puts everything all together for me.”
The Louisville, Kentucky, native graduated last May, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology with summa cum laude honors. She will attend UK’s Physical Therapy Graduate Program this fall.
Of all swimmers and divers – male or female – who have ever come through the Kentucky swimming and diving program, Seidt holds the most records. She has earned more All-America honors, NCAA Championship podium finishes, SEC Championship medals and All-SEC First Team selections than any UK swimmer or diver, man or woman, that has come before her.
In her (nearly four) years at Kentucky, she has earned 21 All-America honors, 15 SEC Championship medals, eight NCAA Championship podium finishes, four conference titles, one USA Swimming Summer Nationals gold medal and one World University Games silver medal.
Seidt holds five individual school records, was twice named to the USA Swimming National Team, twice qualified for Team USA Olympic Trials, was three times named to the All-SEC First Team, is the 2019 ELITE 90 recipient, 2019 Arthur Ashe Female Sports Scholar of the Year recipient and the 2020 H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year recipient.
“It (being successful) comes from the top of our athletic department, all the way to the bottom,” Seidt said. “Our athletic director, Mitch Barnhart, is so incredible. He puts such an emphasis on everything that a student-athlete should be, and for me, it’s in the pool, in the classroom and in our community.”
CoSIDA will take the Academic Team Member of the Year from each of the 12 categories, including the at-large category, and vote for the 2019-20 overall Academic All-America Team Member of the Year on Wednesday, June 24.
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter and on Instagram, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.
