Andreas Vazaios has decided to continue his post-grad swimming career as part of the Loughborough University postgrad group in the United Kingdom.
Vazaios is the Greek national record holder in the long-course 200-meter IM and 200 free as well as short-course 100 and 200 butterfly events and 100 and 200 IM events.
He won four NCAA titles as a member of the NC State Wolfpack, winning the 200 butterfly in 2018 and 2019, as well as being part of the winning 800 free relay in 2017 and 2018.
He is a 13-time All-American and was the 2018 ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year and 2019 ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
He plans to swim with the post-grad group, while studying for his masters degree.
“I am super excited that I will continue my studies in Sports and Exercise Psychology at Loughborough University,” Vazaios said. This was my dream since I was in high school and I feel lucky to make my dreams come true in the world leading university in sport- science subjects. In addition, I will be able to keep swimming with the best team in BUCS and at the most equipped facilities in order to improve my weak points professionally. This way, I get the opportunity to have the perfect balance between academics and sport.”
Andreas Vazaios will train with coaches Ian Hulme and Andi Manley as he aims for the 2021 Olympics.
“I met one of the coaches from NC State who said one of their former swimmers was looking to do a Masters degree and swim in the UK next season and when he told me it was Andreas I was really excited,” Hulme said. “I’m a huge fan of the NCAA system and have followed Andreas’s career closely – watching him win European Gold last December in Glasgow. One of the Greek swimmers we have on the team already (Asterios Daldiogiannis) reached out to him and we discovered he wanted to do a Masters in Sports Psychology. We flew him over for a visit back in February to have a look around the University, meet some of the senior lecturers and of course, swim with the team. For Andreas it was the perfect fit; a vibrant, enjoyable and professional environment which would meet his very high academic and sporting aspirations.”
He will join a group that includes, Marie Wattel and James McFadzen.
Loughborough Swimming said this on Twitter: “Very excited to announce that Andreas Vazaios will be swimming and studying a Masters at @loborouniversity. … The team are excited to have you, Andreas. Looking forward to seeing you in the water safe and soon.”
Vazaios repeated as national champion in the 200-yard butterfly at the 2019 NCAA Championships and earned All-America honors in a total of five events at the national meet. His butterfly title came in record-setting fashion as he lowered his own ACC and program records in the event and swam the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history on the way to taking home gold. Vazaios also finished on the podium in three individual events and one relay at the 2019 ACC Championships.
Academically, Vazaios owns a 3.792 cumulative GPA and is a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American. In 2018, he was honored as a Google Cloud Academic All-American.
“We are delighted to welcome Andreas to the Loughborough Swimming team,” Manley said. “His experience and achievements both internationally for Greece and from his time at NC State are outstanding. He will bring so many great attributes to the team that will inspire his new team-mates to become even better – in and out of the pool. He comes to us with a really clear vision on what he wants to achieve academically and as an international swimmer and its going to be really exciting to be part of his journey and help him in achieving these goals.”