Georgia swimmers Chantal Van Landeghem and Rachel Zilinskas have been chosen as 2017 recipients of NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships, according to an announcement by the NCAA.
Van Landeghem and Zilinskas each will receive a $7,500 Postgraduate Scholarship from the NCAA, which awards 87 to women and 87 to men annually. Since 1986, the Georgia swimming and diving program has produced 38 recipients (29 women, nine men) of an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, garnering more than $200,000. Dating back to 1965, Georgia’s overall athletic program has 77 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship recipients.
Van Landeghem graduated last month with First Honor Graduate status with an overall GPA of 4.0. She was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and became the first UGA student-athlete to win the Dean William Tate Award in recognition of a perfect GPA. She was Georgia’s female nominee for the SEC’s 2017 H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Post-Graduate Scholarship and she was chosen as the Co-Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year for swimming and diving. Van Landeghem recently was named to the 2017 Academic All-America Division I Women’s At-Large Team.
The native of Winnipeg finished her career as one of the top sprinters in Georgia history. She was a 19-time All-American with two NCAA team titles and one NCAA relay championship. Van Landeghem also claimed 11 SEC individual and relay crowns along with three conference team titles. Representing Canada at the 2016 Olympics, she claimed a bronze medal as a member of the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Zilinskas also graduated in May with degrees in Risk Management & Insurance and Statistics. She was named several times to the SEC and Georgia academic honor rolls and was picked as a CSCAA Scholar All-American. Zilinskas earned a Ramsey Scholarship for Academic and Athletic Excellence, was inducted into the Leadership Academy and served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The Indiana, Pa., native capped her career ranked fourth in the 200 backstroke, fifth in the 1,650 freestyle and ninth in the 500 freestyle in school history. She earned All-America honors six times.
Press release courtesy of UGA Sports Communications