Tim Sweeney has been named the CUNYAC/Hospital for Special Surgery Scholar-Athlete of the Month for November 2015. The Staten Island native has maintained a 3.879 GPA in Mathematics at the College of Staten Island while being one of the conference's top swimmers over the past few seasons.
When asked what swimming means to him, Sweeney said "Everything I have achieved throughout my life has been in part due to swimming."
Sweeney's love for swimming begins virtually at birth as his family, particularly his siblings, were involved with the sport. As the youngest of three, his brother and sister were natural role models.
"I really looked up to them so I always wanted to start swimming as soon as I could and fought hard to do it," said Sweeney who finally won the battle at the ambitious age of five.
As his talents and passion evolved, he found himself competing on club and school teams. In high school, Sweeney's final team before college had an assistant coach that is now a familiar face in CUNYAC, CSI Head Swimming & Diving Coach Mike Ackalitis. With Ackalitis becoming the head coach at CSI, it became just another reason for Sweeney to seriously consider the College of Staten Island.
Sweeney knew that he wanted to stay close to home especially after his father had been diagnosed with cancer. He applied to the CUNY Macaulay Honors program and was accepted which all but sealed the deal for Sweeney.
"CSI provided the best of both worlds," said Sweeney. "I got everything I wanted. A good education, being close to family, and the ability to swim competitively."
The college has really been a perfect fit Sweeney as he not only has been very successful in the pool, but has had the ability to find fit all of his academic passions into his schedule. After beginning as an accounting major, Sweeney decided the major was not for him and instead changed to math but kept a finance minor because the business field continues to interest him. He also was able to work with an advisor to keep another love in his life.
"I loved geography forever. I took a class and spoke with my advisor to see how I could take more classes in the subject and we were able to add a minor," said Sweeney.
In the pool, Sweeney has been a record breaking swimmer for the Dolphins and for the conference. As a rookie, Sweeney earned Rookie of the Year but could also have easily been named Tournament MVP as he tied two teammates for most points scored at the CUNYAC Championship while also breaking the 400 Yard Individual Medley record. Last year, the standout did earn that Championship MVP honor as the Dolphins won their second straight title, he broke two championship records, and he was named a First Team All-Star. At CSI, Sweeney owns half of the individual records with seven of the 14 while also sharing ownership of three relay records.
"Tim is one of the hardest working and most dedicated student-athletes in our program," said Head Coach Mike Ackalitis. "Not only does he set a great example in the pool but also in the classroom. He is a Macaulay Honors Student and shows great maturity the way he manages his schedules between school, pool workouts, gym workouts, and work."
Last month, Sweeney led all Dolphins with 131 points across five dual meets while finishing first in all 10 of his individual races. Additionally, set the school record for the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:47.22.
Outside of the pool and the classroom, Sweeney uses his time to continue developing his passions as a Lifeguard at CSI and a Research Assistant at the High Performance Computing Center where he works with big data analytics. He also recently joined the Macaulay Math Club which has helped meet other students who share his passions but can have dramatically different pursuits.
After college, Sweeney would like to stay involved in the sport in some way but is unsure of what role he will end up playing. Outside of swimming, he is looking at graduate schools to pursue a career in actuarial science which combines his interests in business and mathematics perfectly.
It will be exciting to see how successful he might be both in the pool and in the classroom as he enters the second semester of his junior year.