Giles Smith Named Pac-12 Male Scholar Athlete of the Year for Swimming

The Arizona Wildcats have now swept the 2014 Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year awards for swimming. Last week, Margo Geer was named the women’s winner at their championship, and this week it was senior Giles Smith who earned the men’s award.

Smith is the 2014 Pac-12 Champion in the 100 yard fly and as a part of the 200 and 400 yard medley relays, and barring something surprising on Sunday at a last chance meet will head into the NCAA Championships as the top seed in the 100 fly.

In the classroom, this is Giles’ second-straight year on the Pac-12 All-Academic Team. He is a journalism major and has also been honored as a CSCAA Scholar All-american, and holds a 3.56 GPA.

Smith, coming out of high school as a National High School Record holder from Baltimore, originally committed to Tennessee. After a year there, he transferred to Arizona where he not only became an 11-time All-American and a member of the USA World University Games team, but where he also developed into a leader of the Arizona men’s team and was elected a co-captain this season as a senior.

Per the Arizona release: 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% 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.