Mechanical engineering senior named SEC Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year

The folks tasked with naming the SEC Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year had it pretty easy this go round.

A program record in the 500-yard freestyle, an event in which he ranks 11th nationally. Scoring the second-fastest time in program history in the 1000-yard freestyle against the arch-rival. Five All-American honors. A 4.00 grade point average in mechanical engineering.

Yep, Mason Mathias — pruned hands now.

Given Mathias' reasoning for coming to Auburn, the honor, which the conference announced February 21, seems apropos.

"What doesn't Auburn have in terms of engineering and swimming," Mathias said in an interview this past April on the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s podcast, #GINNing. "We have a lot of national championships — it's one of the most storied programs in swimming. But at Auburn, I felt like I could achieve highly both in the pool and in the classroom because of what Auburn Engineering has to offer."

Achieve he did.

SEC Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year isn't the first academic distinction for the senior freestyle phenom from Leeds, Alabama. Not even close.

Mathias earned All-SEC Second Team honors twice (2023, 2024), was a three-time College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-American (2022-2024) and achieved College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American status in 2024. Then there are the three Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll selections (2022-2024) and two CSC Academic All-District Team awards (2023, 2024).

After graduation, Mathias hopes to pursue a career in biomechanics or robotics.

"Being an athlete, I'm obsessed with how the human body works, and how to maximize it," Mathias said. "But I think being a professor wouldn't be too bad, either."