Senior Alex Beyer Earns NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship

St. Louis, Mo., April 30, 2010 - Senior Alex Beyer of the Washington University in St. Louis men’s swimming and diving team has been selected as one of 29 winners of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s winter postgraduate scholarship program, as announced by the NCAA.

Beyer, who is the two-time defending NCAA Division III national champion in the 400-yard individual medley, will receive a grant of $7,500 to apply toward the costs associated with a graduate degree program. A biology major with a 3.75 cumulative grade point average, Beyer plans to attend medical school at either Saint Louis University or Washington University in St. Louis beginning in the fall of 2010.

“Alex has done a tremendous job of balancing his academic and athletic pursuits,” head swimming and diving coach Brad Shively said. “He has provided great leadership and passion for our program and is a credit to college athletics and Washington University. Alex is without question dedicated and committed to every endeavor he is involved in, and I could not be more proud of all he has accomplished.”

With his second-straight national championship victory in the 400-IM at this year’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship Meet in Minneapolis, Minn., Beyer became the first student-athlete in Washington University history to win two NCAA individual swimming national championships.

He ends his career as a 22-time All-America honoree and he currently holds eight Washington University school records, five individual and three relays. His first-place time of 3:51.45 in the 400-IM at the 2009 NCAA Division III Championships still stands as the NCAA Division III record.

“I am truly honored to be recognized by the NCAA in this way and to be one of the few selected for a postgraduate scholarship award,” Beyer said.

In 2009, Beyer was named a first-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American, becoming the first men’s swimmer in school history to earn that distinction. He is a three-time Academic All-University Athletic Association (UAA) honoree and has also earned College Swim Coaches Association of America Academic All-America accolades.

The NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship was created in 1964 to promote and encourage postgraduate education by rewarding the Association's most accomplished student-athletes. Athletics and academic achievements, as well as campus involvement, community service, volunteer activities and demonstrated leadership, are evaluated. 

The program aims to reward those individuals whose dedication and effort are reflective of those characteristics necessary to succeed and thrive through postgraduate study in an accredited graduate degree program.