Courtesy: Texas A&M Athletics
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Four-time Olympian and 2010 NCAA Champion Alia Atkinson ’10 is one of 10 athletes selected to the Texas A&M Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2019.
“Alia is very deserving of this honor,” said Texas A&M head coach Steve Bultman. “She was our second NCAA Champion, just minutes after Julia Wilkinson won the first. She’s as nice as a person as she is a swimmer and she’s always smiling!”
Throughout her four years, she received 19 All-American honors, which ranks fourth-best in program history. Atkinson is a three-time Big 12 Champion in the 100-yard breaststroke (2007, 2008, 2010) and in the 200-yard breaststroke (2007, 2008, 2010). She garnered Big 12 Champion titles in the 400 medley relay (2007 & 2008), 200 medley relay (2008), and the 200 free relay (2010).
She currently ranks sixth in program history in the 100-yard breaststroke (59.43) and in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:06.99), both of which she set in 2009 as a junior. As a senior, she became Texas A&M’s second NCAA Champion after winning in the 200-yard breaststroke.
In 2010, Atkinson received her Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology. Upon graduation, she set the 100-meter breaststroke (SCM) world record in 2014, while winning the race at the Short Course World Championships in Doha and become the first black woman to win a world swimming title. Also in 2014, Atkinson won two medals at the Commonwealth Games: a silver medal in the 50-meter breaststroke and a bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke.
Atkinson is a four-time Olympian participating in the Games in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Her fourth-place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2012 London Games was the highest Olympic finish by a Texas A&M swimmer, later matched by Cammile Adams in 2016.
In 2016, she matched the 100-meter breaststroke (SCM) world record again at the 2016 World Cup, while also setting the 50-meter breaststroke (SCM) world record at the 2016 FINA World Cup in Tokyo.
Atkinson is currently a Special Project Manager for the International Swimming Hall of Fame and an AAN Managing Member.
Joining Atkinson in the Class of 2019 are Morenike Atunrase ’18 from women’s basketball, Patrick Bates ’92, Ty Warren ’03, Hunter Goodwin ’96, and Randy Wylie ‘86 from football, Kyle Hawthorne ’79 from baseball, Joseph Jones ’08 from men’s basketball and Justin Oliver ’09 and James E. Wiley ’46 from men’s track and field.
The organization’s 42nd annual Burgess Banquet will be held Friday, September 13 in the Ford Hall of Champions on the west side of Kyle Field, and the event is open to the general public.
A reception begins at 6 p.m. with dinner beginning at 7 p.m. Event sponsorship opportunities and individual tickets are still available by calling the Letterman’s Association (979-846-3024).
Very deserving of this award. Atkinson is a great role model and leader in the sport.