Emory swimmer and double major Clio Hancock wins Elite 90 Award

Three years ago, Emory's Clio Hancock remembers seeing a small trophy, hearing about its purpose and thinking to herself: That could be me one day. 

The current senior was right. 

The trophy was the NCAA Elite 90 Award, which Hancock received last week at the 2022 Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. The Elite 90 recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring individuals who have reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in their sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships. (See the 2021-22 winners here.) 

"I saw this as a freshman at the (championship) banquet, and I remember being, like, 'Oh, that's really great,'" Hancock said. "I think it's the epitome of the NCAA. We're not just good athletes; we're also great in the classroom. So that was kind of the motivator for me to be, like, 'Hey, this is something I could be recognized for.' I'm pretty self-driven, but I thought it was cool to know that was out there."

Double majoring in chemistry and anthropology with a 4.0 GPA, Hancock said the award represents the balance she sought coming into college between academics and athletics. She chose Emory because she thought it offered a chance to do both at a high level, which she's lived out.  

Last week, Hancock finished in the top eight in the 200-yard butterfly (second), 400-yard individual medley (fourth), 200-yard individual medley (sixth) and 800-yard freestyle relay (sixth). They added to the four All-America honors she claimed as a freshman. 

Hancock said she hopes the experience can be an example her teammates can learn from in terms of what they're capable of as student-athletes. 

"I hope they've learned that you can do great things in the pool and you can do great things in the classroom, and they don't have to come at the expense of each other," she said. "In the same way that I don't think we should be limited in our swimming by being in DIII, I don't think we should limit ourselves in our academic goals by being athletes. It's definitely hard sometimes to be a student-athlete, but I think at the end of the day you can lean on each other." 

Hancock said the support from her coaches, teammates and faculty at Emory is the "more exciting answer" to the question of what's allowed her to succeed in and out of the pool — the "boring answer" being "really effective time management." 

"I have people who are my study buddies and my training buddies. I have people who helped read drafts of my honors thesis, and I got to go to their swim meets and cheer them on. Especially on the swim team, we're really lucky to have a whole bunch of nerds and a whole bunch of people who just love to talk school and love to study with you and push you. It is definitely not a solo effort," she said. "My teammates have been so supportive just in the day in and day out, but the coaching staff and athletic department have been amazing. (Head coach Jon Howell) has accepted my goals with a smile and has encouraged me on. There have been class conflicts, and there's been ways where swimming and school may not have gone together super well. But Jon has gone out of his way to make sure that works seamlessly. 

"I'm really thankful for both the team and the coaches for letting me get to live the swimming and the school dream." 

As Hancock nears the end of her college dream and prepares to move to Denver to work for McKinsey & Co. as a business analyst, she can't help but think of the person she's grown to become through Emory swimming. The sport, she said, has taught her so many lessons she expects to carry with her, the value of hard work and persistence among them. 

"The idea that you can work for years and years on end just to drop a couple tenths of a second, swimming is really unique in that way," she said. "I think that can be hard in some ways, that you just work hours on end and drop maybe a little time, maybe you add some time, but I think that has had such a clear carryover into the classroom where it takes a lot of hard work to get to where you want to be. I just know that I can put my head down and work, and it doesn't matter if the results don't come in a month or two months. It can come in four years, and that's definitely been a cool thing to learn."

Hancock said the way she carries herself is directly connected to her swimming experience, as well.

"I'm much more confident in myself," she added. "I think I've really gotten better at being a leader for the team, being a leader in the classroom, and (swimming) definitely made me a better person."