Snell Gerken Candidate for College Swimming's 100 Greatest
9/1/2021 2:28:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America's centennial list of 100 Greatest Swimmers & Divers.
Kay Snell Gerken '83, the first women's swimmer ever inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame, is among a host former college swimming standouts named as candidates for the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America's (CSCAA) centennial list of 100 Greatest Swimmers & Divers.
She is one of 973 candidates selected from 2,805 nominees who will be considered by ribbon panel of voters to determine the 100 men and 100 women to be named to the team. In total, 221 schools had at least one candidate.
As Kay Snell, she was a dominant performer for the Owls when they competed at the AIAW (Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) Division II level. She was the high-point winner at the national championship and the 1980 Division II Swimmer of the Year as a freshman and qualified for the 1980 Olympic Trials in the 100-meter backstroke.
Snell Gerken set Division II records in the 50-yard backstroke, 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley and earned AIAW All-America honors for four straight years.
She set six individual Rice records in her career, two of which (the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard backstroke) stood for more than a decade. In honor of all her records and accomplishments, she was nominated for the Broderick Award presented to the nation's top collegiate athlete.
She won the Joyce Pounds Hardy Award in 1981 as Rice's top female student-athlete and 30 years later her daughter, Karen Gerken who also swam for the Owls, followed in her footsteps by winning the honor in 2011.
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