GRANVILLE, Ohio (April 23, 2024) – Senior Esme Wright and junior Kerstyn Johnson of the Denison University women's swimming & diving team have each been named First-Team Academic All-America® as selected by College Sports Communicators for the 2023-24 season.

Esme Wright (3.72 GPA as a double major in biology and German) is a 16-time NCAA Division III All-American, including four times in the 400 IM, and helped the Big Red win the NCAA Division III National Championship in the 800 freestyle relay in 2023. At the conference level, Wright is an 11-time All-NCAC performer and is a three-time NCAC Champion. Wright is a three-time CSCAA First-Team Scholar All-American (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23) and a two-time member of the NCAC Academic Honor Roll (2021-22, 2022-23).

Kerstyn Johnson (3.80 GPA as a Health, exercise and sports studies and theatre double major), was the 2023 and 2024 NCAC Women's Diver of the Year and was a member of the 2024 NCAC 40th Anniversary Women's Swimming & Diving All-Decade Team. Johnson is a six-time NCAA Division III All-American who has finished fourth in the 3-meter dive in both 2022 and 2024. She is also a six-time All-NCAC diver and is a three-time NCAC Champion, doing so in the 1-meter dive during each of the last two years. Johnson is a three-time NCAA Division III Diving Regional qualifier who finished in the top-three in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives at regionals this year. Johnson is a two-time CSCAA First Team Scholar All-American (2021-22, 2022-23), was a member of the 2022-23 NCAC Academic Honor Roll, and is a two-time James T. Glerum Jr. Top 50 Scholar-Athlete (2022-23 & 2023-24). Johnson is one of six student-athletes to be a repeat selection on the 2023-24 Academic All-America® Division III women's swimming & diving teams after being named a CSC Second-Team Academic All-American® in 2022-23.

This brings Denison's count to 117 Academic All-America® winners in school history. Wright and Johnson are the first First-Team Academic All-Americans® from the Denison women's swimming & diving program since KT Kustritz and Natalie Zaravella in 2020. In addition, Johnson is the first back-to-back Academic All-American® in the program since Kustritz (2018, 2019, 2020) and Zaravella (2019, 2020).

Created in 1952, the Academic All-America® program, selected by College Sports Communicators, is a premier, nationwide college scholar-athlete awards program. It recognizes over 1,400 outstanding student-athletes annually in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.
 
2023-24 Academic All-America® Women's Swimming & Diving Teams
View Denison's All-Time List of Academic All-America® Winners