Courtesy: SEC Sports
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The SEC sponsors Community Service Teams for all 21 league sponsored sports. The Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts. The 2023 SEC Men’s Swimming & Diving Community Service Team is as follows:
Derek Maas, Senior, Alabama
For three years, Maas taught English as a second language (ESL), including one year serving as an intern with the Shelton State Community College ESL Program. Last spring, he volunteered as a medical interpreter. During the summer, Maas was a volunteer coach for Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics. He serves as executive chair of Alabama’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Earlier this year, Maas earned the 2022 Distinguished Undergraduate Scholar award, which is awarded to graduating seniors who received all A’s or A+’s throughout their career. Every semester of his undergraduate career, he also made the President’s List, which is awarded to students with a 4.0 GPA each semester.
Conner Pruitt, Graduate, Auburn
Pruitt has put community giveback at the forefront of his priorities while on the Plains. Volunteering more than 20 hours over 2022-23, he has been a staple at both the Ronald McDonald House Charities and Habitat for Humanity. Pruitt was integral in the annual Toys for Tots campaign this season as well as the local Giving Hope campaign to make sure families had practical needs and Christmas gifts during the holiday season. He has also aided the efforts of the AU Sustenance project in an effort to fight food insecurity.
Anton Svirskyi, Junior, Florida
Svierskyi has accumulated over 800 hours of service working with the City of Gainesville, Alachua County Public Schools, and the Ukraine Medical Association. He assisted in disaster relief and recovery efforts for his home country of Ukraine. Svirskyi also worked with the Teen Midnight Basketball Program and the Alachua County Public Schools Teacher Welcome Back. A member of the 2021-22 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll, he was an All-American last season on platform.
Bradley Dunham, Senior, Georgia
Dunham is a member of the UGA L.E.A.D. Leadership Academy, working with other student-athletes to help build leadership skills, networking opportunities, and personal development for life after athletics. He is also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, serving as a liaison between the swimming and diving team and the athletic administration, as well organizing service initiatives to promote student-athlete wellness. Outside of UGA, Dunham has helped organize service opportunities for the men’s swimming and diving team, including volunteer hours at the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity store, the Swim Across America event, and the team’s efforts with Team Impact, where the program “signed” a young boy who had survived leukemia. He received a CSCAA All-America citation in 2021 for swimming on Georgia’s sixth-place 800-yard freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships. Dunham has also been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll and J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics in each year of competition. He was one of 80 students selected for the Terry College Professional Sales Competition, participating in a day-long competition to deliver sales pitches to panels of corporate sales professionals in multiple industries.
Adam Rosipal, Senior, Kentucky
Rosipal has contributed over 40 hours of community service since the beginning of the 2022-23 school year with various organizations, including the Ronald McDonald House, Salvation Army and God’s Pantry Food Bank. Several volunteer activities included cleanup and organization, collecting for food drives, packing food for distribution and setting up Christmas decorations. Rospial was a CSCAA Scholar All-America honorable mention in both 2021 and 2022. He was named to 2020-21 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll and the 2021-22 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Spencer Adrian, Senior, LSU
Adrian participated in the Halloween Boozar, an annual free event that provides a safe and fun environment for children of all ages and their families to enjoy trick-or-treating activities and carnival games while interacting with LSU student-athletes. He is currently Vice President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Adrian assisted with LSU Streak Week, the Sweats to Suit fashion show and Tiger Nights. He also coordinated the swimming & diving teams attending various sporting events on campus.
Ben Patton, Senior, Missouri
Patton has accumulated over 130 hours of service working with the City of Columbia and Columbia Public Schools. He assisted in packing food for the local community at the food bank. Patton also worked with and has spent the majority of his time working with the Special Olympics Basketball team in Columbia and the Columbia Public School Trunk or Treat. He is a two-time member of the Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Daniel West, Junior, South Carolina
West has completed more than 40 community service hours during the 2022-23 school year. He has spent time volunteering at the Good Samaritan Clinic, a non-profit clinic in Columbia, SC, that provides no-cost healthcare to under-served communities in the state. While at the clinic, West works in administration, filing paperwork and entering data for patients. He often assists them in acquiring medication and filling out financial aid paperwork. West has also spent time volunteering at Columbia’s Habitat for Humanity resale store, where he helps to sort donated goods and works on the store floor with customers. Additionally, West volunteered at the Riverbanks Boo at the Zoo event, where he passed out candy to kids during Halloween. He is a member of Phi Delta Epsilon, a co-ed pre-medical professional fraternity. West is a Capstone scholar who is a two-time member of the Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll.
Bryden Hattie, Junior, Tennessee
Hattie has contributed volunteer hours at various projects in Knoxville, ranging from serving meals during the holidays to reading to elementary school children. During the 2021-22 academic year, he was also a member of the VOLeaders Academy, which was developed to cultivate positive student-athlete leaders through sport to create positive social change.
Carter Nelson, Junior, Texas A&M
Nelson devoted his time in Rev’ved Up to Read, reading to second grade students in the local Bryan-College Station area. Additionally, he became a Sleep in Heavenly Peace Volunteer, an AggiesCan Food Drive Volunteer and a Spring Creek Volunteer. Nelson is the Vice President of Selfless Service for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the 2022-23 school year. In the fall of 2022, He was a part of the Brand U Professional Development Program.