MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Sunshine State Conference announced its individual awards for men's swimming on Thursday, and among those that were honored, Rollins' Harold Lockhart was named the SSC Swimmer of the Year. Lockhart becomes the first Tar to receive the honor, thanks in large part to his outstanding showings at both the conference and NCAA meets.
View the conference press release here.
Lockhart garners Swimmer of the Year after winning two individual national championships in 2022, the only two in Rollins history. In addition to being the first athlete from Rollins to win SSC Swimmer of the Year accolades, he was also the first to be named First Team All-SSC. His NCAA meet performance also vaulted the Tars to a program-best 17th place team finish.
The sophomore from Birmingham, Alabama, gained entry to the NCAA meet following "A" cuts in the 200 Free, 500 Free, and 1000 Free. Lockhart won his first national title in the 1000 Free with a time of 9:00.53, just missing the SSC record. He followed a national title in the 500 Free with a conference record time of 4:20.44. Additionally, he earned a third All-American honor as an individual with an eighth-place finish in the 200 Free (1:35.46). Lockhart led Rollins to Top-20 finishes in the 200 Free, 400 Free, and 800 Free Relays at the NCAA meet.
In addition to Lockhart's honor as SSC Swimmer of the Year, the Freshman and Coach of the Year awards were also handed out on Thursday. Ludovico Viberti from Florida Southern was named the Freshman of the Year, and his coach, Andy Robins, was named Coach of the Year.
The awards announced on Thursday were selected by a vote of the league's swimming coaches following the shortened NCAA Division II National Championship. All-SSC swimmers were selected earlier this season following the conference championship meet held February 16-20 at the Long Center in Clearwater.
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