Hall of Fame
Alex Sweet ‘08 was among the most decorated swimmers in Washington and Lee’s distinguished history in the sport.
Sweet earned three letters as a swimmer and was a team captain as a senior. However, his W&L athletics career began as a member of the basketball team, playing in six games as a center during his rookie year.
Sweet chose to pursue swimming for his sophomore campaign and never looked back. In just three seasons in the pool at W&L, he was a three-time First Team All-Bluegrass Mountain Conference honoree and qualified for the NCAA Championship all three years. He earned 15 All-America citations with the Generals and he graduated holding school records in the 50 free (19.85), 100 free (44.51) and 200 free (1:39.10), and he was part of the record-setting 400 medley (3:26.85), 200 free (1:21.55), 400 free (3:02.53) and 800 free (6:44.57) relay teams.
In his first season in the pool, Sweet earned a pair of All-America laurels, placing 14th with the 400 freestyle relay and 15th with the 400 medley relay teams at the NCAA Division III Championship.
As a junior, he racked up seven more All-America honors at the NCAA Championship, including four first team citations. Individually, he placed sixth in the 100 freestyle, 13th in the 50 freestyle and 14th in the 200 freestyle, while the 200 freestyle relay finished second, the 800 freestyle relay finished third, the 400 freestyle relay finished sixth and the 400 medley relay placed 15th.
Sweet’s senior campaign was the culmination of his impressive career at W&L. He finished as the NCAA Division III National Champion in the 50 freestyle, setting an NCAA Championship record in the event with a time of 19.85. He added All-America laurels in five more events, finishing fourth in the 100 freestyle and ninth in the 200 freestyle, and swimming on the fourth-place 200 freestyle relay, the sixth-place 400 freestyle relay and the eighth-place 800 freestyle relay.
Buoyed by Sweet's individual success, W&L finished 14th at the NCAA Championships during his sophomore season, and eighth each of his final two seasons. He was named the 2008 recipient of the Pres Brown Award as the outstanding senior male athlete at W&L.
Following his W&L career, Sweet competed in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing 64th in the 50 free with a time of 23.28. He went on to attend medical school at the University of Louisville, using his final season of eligibility to compete on the Cardinals' swimming team. He qualified for the NCAA Division I meet in the 50 freestyle and earned a 16th All-America citation as part of the 200 medley relay team that finished 11th at the 2009 NCAA Division I meet.
