Texas A&M University senior freestyler Chloe Stepanek '24 was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Women's Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Friday (Feb. 23) during the SEC Championships meet.
The prestigious honor is the second consecutive for Stepanek, who ranks as the first Texas A&M swimmer or diver in SEC history to be honored multiple times. Last season, she became only the third Aggie earn the award, joining Lisa Bratton (2018) and Sarah Gibson (2017).
Stepanek boasts a 4.0 grade point average in biomedical sciences while ranking among the best in the nation in the 100 and 200 free. She is a College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-American and a nine-time CSCAA All-American. She was the 2023 Bill Erwin Texas A&M Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and has also been named to the Athletics Director Honor Roll, Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll and First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll. In addition, she helped Texas A&M earn CSCAA Scholar All-America Team honors this year for the 39th time under head coach Steve Bultman.
A native of Northport, New York, Stepanek holds the school record in the 200 free (1:42.40), as well as the fourth-fastest time in program history in the 100 free (47.78) and 50 free (22.06). She has earned four individual medals at the SEC Championships, claiming a bronze medal in the 200 free this week.
A three-time recipient of Texas A&M's Most Valuable Swimmer award, Stepanek has earned a spot on the 2021, 2022 and 2023 All-SEC Second Team and the 2021 SEC All-Freshman Team. She has already clocked a qualifying time for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and previously competed at the 2021 Trials.
This story was originally published by Texas A&M Athletics Communications.