Swimming standouts Pat Pema and Zoe Walker have been named as winter recipients of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday afternoon.
The award, which is a $10,000 scholarship that can be applied toward their current or future graduate degree programs, is annually bestowed upon student-athletes who excel academically and athletically while also serving as leaders in the community.
Pema and Walker are the latest Eagles to be selected as recipients of the prestigious award, bringing Emory's total to 124 in its history and its 107 since 2000 is second only to Stanford University for the most of any NCAA member institution.
Pema recently concluded his Eagles career this spring, leading the men's program to back-to-back national championships. This March, he put forth a breakthrough meet at nationals. Pat was a six-time All-American at the meet, capturing his first-ever individual national title in the 500 Freestyle, was the national runner-up in the 200 Freestyle, and was part of the team's Division III record-setting 800 Freestyle Relay championship. Over his career, he was a 16-time All-American, three-time national champion and claimed UAA titles in seven different events to help the Eagles to four conference crowns. He will graduate as the program's record holder in the 200 and 500 Freestyles, the 400 Freestyle Relay as well as the national record holder in the 800 Freestyle Relay.
Outside the pool, Pat finished with a 3.44 GPA as a Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology major and plans to pursue a graduate degree in medicine. He volunteered time at Loving Care hospice and Atlanta Pediatric Cancer Outreach and logged over 500 hours as an EMT certified clinician. He plans to pursue a degree at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
Walker was part of the women's swimming & diving program from 2019-2022, helping the team to the 2019 NCAA Division III national championship and a national runner-up finish in 2022. She was part of a pair of relay national championships, winning her first as a member of the Eagles' 200 Freestyle her rookie season before adding a title with the 400 Freestyle group as a senior. Furthermore she added national runner-up efforts in two relay events to finish her career as a five-time All-American. Zoe was also part of three UAA championship teams, winning three conference event titles and was a six-time All-UAA performer.
Away from competition, Zoe graduated in 2022 with a 3.80 GPA as a Chemistry major with a minor in Spanish and was part of countless organization efforts around campus and in the community with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Black Lives Matter, Swim Across America and Special Olympics initiatives. She plans to continue her education with the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at the University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine.