North Carolina State University

Men's Swimming & Diving

2021-22 Recipient

Eric Knowles (Gr. | Dayton, Ohio | Legacy Christian Academy) was a seven-time All-American and three-time ACC champion during his collegiate career at NC State. He helped captain the men’s swimming & diving team to conference titles and fourth-place NCAA Championship finishes in four of five seasons with the Wolfpack. In the classroom, he compiled a perfect 4.0 GPA and was a four-time Academic All-America honoree, landing on the CoSIDA First Team each of the last three seasons. He was also a member of the Academic All-ACC Team and a CSCAA Scholar All-American each season of his five-year career. In addition, he won the Elite 90 Award for Men’s Swimming & Diving after having the top GPA out of any competitor at that NCAA Championships event, and he was a recipient of a 2022 ACC Postgraduate Scholarship. Knowles - a member of the leadership team for Athletes in Action, an organization founded to help athletes grow physically, mentally, and spiritually - earned his materials science and engineering degree this past spring. He is the second NC State student-athlete in history to be receive Chi Alpha Sigma Scholar Athlete of the Year honors, joining former Wolfpack swimmer Andreas Vazaios, who won the award in 2019-20.