This week marks the culmination of senior Drew Hamilton’s collegiate swimming career, as he competes in the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in the 500-yard freestyle, 400-yard individual medley and 100-yard freestyle.
And though the competition has just begun, he’s already bringing home major honors: Hamilton, an accounting and Spanish major, received the NCAA Elite 90 Award, which is bestowed upon the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at each of the championship finals sites, recognizing individuals who have succeeded as athletes and as students.
A senior on the men’s swimming and diving team, Hamilton is accomplished in both the pool and the classroom. He holds several program records and University Athletic Association (UAA) conference honors, all while keeping up a 3.947 GPA and completing 141 credits.
Hamilton is just the third Spartan to win the NCAA Elite 90 Award, joining Sam Merriman (men’s cross country, 2016) and Derek Reinbold (men’s tennis, 2014) in receiving the prestigious honor.
He is the second men’s or women’s swimmer in the UAA to earn the award, and the 16th athlete in conference history.
“It was such an honor to win the Elite 90 award my senior year,” Hamilton said. “Over the past four years, I have loved representing Case Western Reserve University, and it means a lot to be able to cap off my career with this award.”
Hamilton’s five All-American certificates and six All-UAA honors demonstrate his dominance in the pool.
In his first season at Case Western Reserve University, he became the first men’s or women’s swimmer at the university to earn the Rookie of the Year honor from the UAA.
Hamilton’s performance that season included a first place win in the 500-yard freestyle at the UAA championships, a second-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley and second place as part of the 800-yard freestyle relay team.
That same season, he earned an All-America Honorable Mention for the 800-yard freestyle and in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships.
And that was just the beginning for Hamilton.
During his sophomore season, he was part of the first CWRU relay team to win an event at the UAA championships, which he did in the 800-yard freestyle relay event. That relay team went on to finish in 10th place at the NCAA championships.
As a junior, Hamilton built upon his early success and earned an All-America Honorable Mention for the 500-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley at the NCAA Championships. That same season, he received All-UAA recognition for the 800-yard freestyle relay, after a performance that resulted in a second place finish at the UAA Championships.
Throughout his career as a CWRU men’s swimmer, Hamilton has claimed six individual program records and an additional two school records as a member of a relay team.
After the first day of competition at the NCAA Championships, Hamilton placed 29th in the 500-yard freestyle preliminaries with a time of 4:35.56.
“This championship marks the end of a long, 15-year career and I am very excited to see what the final days of the meet hold,” Hamilton said. “Whether that be a best time, another finals swim, or simply having fun with the rest of the team, I just hope to end it the best way possible.”
Visit athletics.case.edu throughout the week to see how Hamilton and the rest of the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are performing at the NCAA Championships.
To learn more about the Elite 90 award, visit ncaa.com/elite-90.