CSR (Becky Weima Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American)

Calvin Sports Report for June 15, 2006 (Part One)

Becky Weima Named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American

GRAND RAPIDS * Calvin College junior Becky Weima has added another prestigious award to her storied collegiate swimming career. A native of Caledonia and a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School, Weima has been named a second team Academic All-American by ESPN The Magazine ®. Weima is the first individual in Calvin swimming and diving history to receive ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors.

Weima has been so honored in the college division at-large division which includes schools from the NCAA II, NCAA III and NAIA ranks. The at-large division includes the sports of swimming, field hockey, lacrosse, tennis, water polo and ice hockey.

During her three years at Calvin, Weima has captured four individual national titles, winning the 200 yard freestyle at the 2005 NCAA III Championships and then winning national crowns in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle at the 2006 national meet. Her efforts helped Calvin finish 10th at the NCAA III Championships in 2005 and tied for sixth in 2006. The two finishes are the top two national team finishes in Calvin swimming and diving history.

A 15-time NCAA III All-American, Weima has also been named the MIAA's Most Outstanding Swimmer three consecutive years and is also a three-time All-MIAA selection. In addition, she has been named the Division III Swimmer of the Week twice in her career by Collegeswimming.com. She is the NCAA III record holder in the 200 freestyle (1:49.02), the MIAA record holder in the 50, 100, 200 and 500 freestyle events and the Calvin record holder in the 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 freestyle events as well as in the 100 butterfly.

At Calvin, Weima is a Secondary Education major with an emphasis in Spanish and carries a 3.69 grade point average. She is a three-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a six-time member of the Calvin Dean's List. Weima has also spent considerable time volunteering as a tutor at Wyoming Godrey Lee Middle School and spent part of her summer in 2005, working as a volunteer in a mountain village in Honduras.

Weima is the second Calvin athlete to be named an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American this year as junior Lisa Winkle was also so honored in women's basketball this winter.

Calvin has now had its athletes receive Academic All-America accolades 64 times including 38 times in the last nine years.

The Academic All-America ® Teams program honors 816 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.

ESPN the Magazine * winner of the 2003 National Magazine Award for Generall Excellence * is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversize bi-weekly with a circulation of 1.85 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.

Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Jun 15 07:13:50 2006