LEX18 — Former University of Kentucky swimmer Asia Seidt is officially the 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year. She is the first Wildcat in school history to earn the honor, and she was selected out of more than 600 qualified candidates. Sedit was chosen based on her outstanding achievements in academics, athletics, community service and leadership. The announcement was made during a live virtual award show on Friday, Nov. 13, hosted by ESPN basketball analyst and former WNBA player Rebecca Lobo.
Out of all of the swimmers and divers – male or female – who have ever come through the Kentucky swimming and diving program, Seidt holds the most records. She's earned more All-America honors, NCAA Championship podium finishes, Southeastern Conference Championship medals and All-SEC First Team selections than any UK swimmer or diver, man or woman, in program history.
Meanwhile, Seidt maintained a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in kinesiology with the highest honors. She is currently attending UK’s Physical Therapy Graduate Program.
"I just want to be an example for people coming after me that it is possible succeed in your sport, it's possible to get good grades, it's possible to give back to your community..."
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) June 24, 2020
More from H. Boyd McWhorter Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Asia Seidt (@africa_seidt6) 👇 pic.twitter.com/0gAeL4yWN5
In her (nearly four) years at Kentucky, the Louisville native 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, the 2019 Arthur Ashe Female Sports Scholar of the Year, the 2020 SEC H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the 2020 CoSIDA At-Large Scholar-Athlete of the Year, among numerous other awards.
Her collegiate swimming career was cut short by the coronavirus outbreak in March, when the 2020 NCAA Championships were canceled at the last minute. Before that, Seidt had three individual events ranked in the nation’s top seven, with her best event, the 200 backstroke, listing her at No. 3 in the country with a seed time (1:48.86, recorded at the 2020 SEC Championships) that wasn’t even her career best (1:48.65, recorded at the 2019 NCAA Championships).
For more on Seidt and her incredible accomplishments in and out of the pool, check out LEX18's feature story on her HERE, by Keith Farmer and Eli Gehn, as shown on the nightly show, BBN Tonight.
