Skip to main content

2014 Pac-12 Men's Swimming Championships

3/5-3/8 // TV: 3/10 at 7:30PM PT on P12N

Arizona's Giles Smith named 
2014 Pac-12 men's swimming Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Mar 9, 2014

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The Pac-12 Conference has named ARIZONA’s Giles Smith the 2014 Pac-12 Men’s Swimming Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The award has been established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline. 

A senior from Baltimore, Md., Smith has been a standout butterfly and freestyle swimmer in his two seasons for the Wildcats. The 10-time All-American has won an NCAA title in the 400 medley relay (2013) and the 200 medley relay (2012). He owns the second-fasted 100 fly time in school history and the ninth-fasted 50 and 100 free times in program history as well. In his senior regular season, Smith earned six individual first-place finishes and four first-place relay finishes, recording the fasted time in the country in the 100 fly at 44.73. He also represented Team U.S.A. at the World University Games in Russia. Outside of the pool, Smith has a 3.46 grade point average while pursuing a degree in journalism. He was a Pac-12 First-Team All-Academic honoree and a College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America honoree last year. 

In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport’s regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.

A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12’s 22 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, women’s volleyball and wrestling.

The Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards were established during the 2007-08 academic year.

Other nominees included: David Adalsteinsson, ASU; Scott Farley, CAL; Noah Garcia, STAN; and Jack Wagner, USC.