Bjorn Seeliger, a senior at California, was awarded the 2023-24 Men’s Swimming/Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year on Saturday. The award, which is granted in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sports, was created to recognize collegiate student-athletes who excel both academically and in their respective discipline.
The senior Golden Bear from Södertälje, Sweden, is presently studying Business Administration and has a cumulative GPA of 3.75. Seeliger’s academic achievements include two CSCAA Scholar All-American First Team honors, two Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll honors, and a 2023 CSC Academic All-American.
Seeliger is a 12-time Pac-12 Champion, having won the 200 and 400 free relays three times in a row, as well as the 100 free. In his three years of Pac-12 competition, he holds the Pac-12 records in the 50 free, 100 free, and 400 free relays, as well as Pac-12 Championship records in all three with the addition of the 400 Medley relay.
On a national level, the senior has helped the NCAA squad win back-to-back championships by winning the 400 Medley relay, 200 free relay, and 400 free relay. His entire collegiate success has helped him become a 19-time CSCAA All-American, with the Golden Bear earning at least six All-American awards each year. Seeligger competed for Team Sweden in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
As a member of the Berkeley Cameron Institute, Seeliger helps his community by reading to children at the Oakland Public Children’s Library. The senior is scheduled to graduate in May 2024.
To be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to graduate, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, compete in at least 50% of the sport’s scheduled contests, and have spent at least one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, with winners chosen by a Pac-12 staff committee at the end of each sport’s regular season. The nominees’ sporting accomplishments are considered when voting for the prize.
A Scholar-Athlete of the Year is named annually in each of the Pac-12’s 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, beach volleyball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rowing, women’s rowing, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming & diving, women’s swimming & diving, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s track & field, women’s track & field, wo The prize was originally introduced in the 2007-08 academic year.