Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey announced the SEC’s 2017-18 Roy F. Kramer Athlete of the Year recipients on Friday. Florida swimmer Caeleb Dressel earned the men’s honor, which is voted on by the conference’s Athletic Directors.
At the 2018 NCAA Championships, Dressel became the most decorated swimmer in program history, surpassing Ryan Lochte‘s eight national championships. Dressel finished the event with four titles to increase his career count to ten.
Dressel finished his career earning national titles in the 50M Free, 100M Free, 100M Fly, and 200M FR and will leave the UF program holding nine school timing records.
Dressel earned seven All-American honors in 2018 for a four year collegiate total of twenty eight.
Dressel is the tenth Gator to earn the SEC Athlete of the Year, though three earned the award twice.
- 1984: Tracy Caulkins (Swim)
- 1988: Dara Torres (Swim)
- 1993: Nicole Haislett (Swim)
- 1994: Nicole Haislett (Swim)
- 1996: Danny Wuerffel (Football)
- 1997: Danny Wuerffel (Football)
- 2005: Ryan Lochte (Swim)
- 2008: Tim Tebow (Football)
- 2009: Tim Tebow (Football)
- 2014: Hannah Rogers (Softball)
- 2015: Lauren Haeger (Softball)
- 2016: Bridget Sloan (Gymnastics)
- 2018: Caeleb Dressel (Swim)
The 2017-18 SEC Athlete of the Year on the women’s side is South Carolina women’s basketball player A’ja Wilson. Wilson was the National Player of the Year and was the #1 pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft.