June 14, 2005

Clemson Swimmer Tommy Rappold was named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America University Division Men's At-Large Team announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America on Tuesday.

Rappold finished his Clemson academic career with a 3.96 GPA, in Computer Information Systems. He is just the second male swimmer in Clemson history to be named first-team Academic All-American, as he joins Will York (1999) with that distinction.

This is the second consecutive year Rappold has been honored for his academic achievement, as he was a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-American last year. The native of Roanoke, VA is the seventh student-athlete in Clemson history to be named an academic All-American by CoSIDA, twice. He joins Steve Fuller (football, 1977-78), Denise Murphy (volleyball, 1985-86), Christine Sherman (volleyball, 1986-87), Kyle Young (football, 1999-00-01), Chad Carson (1999-00-01) and Jonathan Byrd (1999-00) with that distinction.

Clemson women's track athlete Gisele Oliveira could join that list next week when the women's track academic All-America team is announced. In the pool, Rappold was an Atlantic Coast Conference Champion in the 100 Butterfly and also set the school record in the event. He finished in first place in 11 races throughout the year, including the 100 fly and 100 back at the NIKE Cup last November.

He was named to the ACC Honor Roll all four years and won 2004 & 2005 CSCAA Honorable Mention All-America Honors for Academics. Rappold was named to Clemson's Honor Roll and Dean's List eight times.

Clemson CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
        Year    Athlete Sport
        1959-60 Lou Cordileone  Football
        1977-78 Steve Fuller    Football
        1978-79 Steve Fuller    Football
        1979-80 Bobby Conrad    Men's Basketball
        1985-86 Denise Murphy   Volleyball
                Tina Krebs      #Women's Track
        1986-87 Denise Murphy   Volleyball
                Ingelise Driehuis       #Women's Tennis
                Christine Sherman       Volleyball
        1987-88 Christine Sherman       Volleyball
        1988-89 James Rootes    #Men's Soccer
                Dov Kremer      #Men's Track
        1991-92 Liz Dolan       #Women's Swimming
        1994-95 Paul Galloway   Baseball
        1996-97 Mitch Sprengelmeyer     #Men's Tennis
        1998-99 Jennifer Mihalik        #Women's Swimming
                Jonathan Byrd   #Men's Golf
                Will York       #Men's Swimming
        1999-00 Kyle Young      Football
                Chad Carson     Football
                Jonathan Byrd   #Golf
        2000-01 Kyle Young      Football
                Chad Carson     Football
        2001-02 Kyle Young      Football
                Chad Carson     Football
                D.J. Trahan     #Golf
                Doug Ameigh     #Men's Track
        2002-03 Jenna Burtch    #Women's Swimming
                Rick Hill       #Men's Track
        2003-04 Tommy Rappold   Men's Swimming
                Gisele Oliveira Women's Track
        2004-05 Tommy Rappold   #Men's Swimming
        #Denotes At-large team