Junior Emma Reaney was named the ACC Women's Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year Wednesday.

Reaney Receives ACC Swimming & Diving's Top Academic Honor

April 10, 2014

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame women’s swimming standout Emma Reaney really epitomizes the term student-athlete. Just weeks after cleaning up Most Valuable Swimmer honors at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships and earning ACC Swimmer of the Year accolades following her national championship in the 200 breaststroke, Reaney was named ACC Women’s Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year Wednesday.

In addition to Reaney, freshmen Katie Miller and Catherine Mulquin, junior Bridget Casey and seniors Kelly Ryan and Christen McDonough were named to the all-ACC Academic Team. A full release on the all-academic team will be published in the coming days.

Reaney, who sports a 3.689 GPA in design with a minor in business economics from the College of Arts & Letters, is extremely proud of her accomplishments in the classroom.

“It means so much to be recognized for my academics as well as my swimming,” said the Lawrence, Kan., native. “I want people to know that I’m not just a mindless swim machine and that I also work really hard in the classroom. I’m very honored!”

In addition to her impressive GPA since arriving on campus, Reaney has twice been named to the Dean’s List, was selected a BIG EAST Academic All-Star as a freshman and sophomore and received a spot on the all-ACC Academic Team this year.

She has also been part of the Rosenthal Leadership Academy as a sophomore and junior.

In the pool this season, Reaney earned ACC Women’s Swimmer of the Week accolades five times this year and had a remarkable ACC Championships as she won three titles in the 200 IM and the 100 and 200 breaststroke on her way to receiving ACC Women’s Most Valuable Swimmer honors. Her winning time in the 200 breast (2:04.34) was an American record and positioned her as the favorite in the event at the NCAA Championships.

At the NCAA Championships, Reaney improved as the meet went on by finishing seventh in the 200 IM (1:56.15), third in the 100 breast (57.79) and first in the 200 breast (2:04.06). Her time in the latter broke her own NCAA, U.S. Open and American record in the event as she bested 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist Breeja Larson (2:05.88) and Stanford standout Katie Olsen (2:05.88) by 1.82 seconds.

Her individual championship was the first in program history on either the women’s or men’s side. A more in-depth look at Reaney’s season will come out in the coming weeks.

The Lawrence, Kan., native will enter her senior year as the school record holder in eight events (four individual and four relay) and after spending a summer training at the elite SwimMAC Carolina facility in Charlotte, N.C.

For more information on Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving, check out the Irish on Facebook (/NDwSwimmingDiving) and Twitter (@NDwSwimming).

–Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director

–ND–