NCAA Division II Bentley University senior Emily Sweet was one of three finalists for the Honda Inspiration Award. Sweet also appeared on the CBS Sports Network show “Defying the Odds” that premiered last night.
Sweet was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in January 2021. She stayed home during the Spring 2021 semester which worked out as COVID-19 was rapidly spreading and classes were online at Bentley. The Northeast-10 Conference, which Bentley is a member of, put its season on hold as well.
Sweet arrived back on Bentley’s campus in August 2021 after finishing up her chemotherapy. She began competing for Bentley again swimming for her first meet in October 2021. She competed in a total of seven meets during the 2021-2022 season, but missed the Northeast-10 Conference championships as she was preparing for a stem cell procedure scheduled to be performed in March 2022.
In May 2022, Sweet was announced as one of the Honda Inspiration Award Finalists. The two other finalists are junior gymnast Payton Murphy from Western Michigan University and senior golfer Lauren Thibodeau of the University of Louisville.
Last night, June 20, 2022, CBS Sports Network featured a 30 minute show called “Defying the Odds” with all three finalists. The Honda Inspiration Award presentation is scheduled for June 27th, 2022 at 9 pm EST/8 pm CST.
The Honda Inspiration Award has been given each year for the last 34 years. According to the Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards, the award is “given to a female athlete who has overcome hardship and was able to return to play at the collegiate level.”
As an athlete, Sweet is in Bentley’s All-Time Top 10 in multiple events. Those include the 1000 free (5th, 10:43.93), 200 back (6th, 2:08.23), 500 free (8th, 5:15.20), 100 back (9th, 1:00.16), 200 fly (9th, 1:16.65), and 1650 free (10th, 18:22.13). She qualified for an A final at the Northeast-10 Conference Championships in each of her first two seasons at Bentley. This year, she was voted to the Academic All-Northeast-10 team.
Sweet graduated from Bentley this spring with a degree in Economics-Finance and a minor in earth, environment and global sustainability.
Great kid from a terrific program!