2025–2026
Scholarship Recipients
A Beacon of Light and Hope
Pursuing education is a roadmap for recovery after traumatic injury. It is a chance to pursue a new chapter, offering student-athletes who are driven and competitive by nature, a sense of purpose, independence, and well-being. Completing a degree and excelling in the classroom is up to the individual—a path forward. We welcome you to meet our current recipients and learn more about their triumphant stories.
"I look at my situation as what an opportunity to live by faith, work hard, overcome an extraordinary obstacle and (hopefully) inspire others along the way."
Sydney Fowler
Anderson University
"Without paralysis, my story wouldn’t be a positive influence. Do I still hope that, in my lifetime, there will be a scientific breakthrough that cures paralysis? Absolutely! But, until then, I choose joy. I choose to be grateful. I choose to accept this path and live life to the fullest with a positive, resilient spirit."
Read MoreAmber Castro
University of Nevada Las Vegas
"The Swim with Mike Foundation Scholarship represents a vital lifeline that would furnish the financial assistance essential for me to pursue these aspirations and effect a lasting transformation in my life and the lives of those around me."
Read More"I am honored to carry the Swim With Mike torch by showing how people with disabilities can still strive and achieve their goals."
Austin Somerville
Clemson University
“As a recipient of the Swim With Mike Scholarship, I am not only grateful for the financial benefit it has given me, but also the supportive community I have been welcomed into. As I begin my college journey, I am honored to carry the Swim With Mike torch by showing how people with disabilities can still strive after and achieve their goals.”
Read More"With hope, nothing is impossible, or better said, everything is possible."
Ignacio Montoya
Georgia Tech
“The Swim with Mike Foundation through this scholarship opportunity is providing me an exceptional educational experience at Cal State LA that is allowing me to learn and have a deeper understanding about physiology and kinesiology of the human body especially after trauma and paralysis. This is allowing me to better understand, evaluate, and interpret in order to optimize the functional recovery that I am experiencing as a participant of the world’s leading clinical trial that’s aimed at demonstrating what is possible in spinal cord injury research by working to reverse paralysis and change the standard of care.” “I want to not only use this experience to help others see what is possible but more than anything I want to give paralyzed men and women hope because hope is the key that makes this dream probable.” “With hope, nothing is impossible, or better said, Everything is Possible.”
Read MoreEducation is the Great Equalizer:
A Path Forward for Student-Athletes to
Realize New Opportunities
The impact of an educational scholarship is two-fold: it develops the individual and it illuminates a new path after a catastrophic, life-altering event. Beginning an undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral program levels the playing field and allows scholarship recipients to reimagine their future and reshape themselves as individuals. The positive energy and challenges faced in the classroom builds self-esteem, self-reliance, and the ability to achieve great success as an independent person. The university experience offers the fundamental building blocks to pursue professional passions, stimulate innovation, and move their life forward.
As student-athletes, Swim with Mike Foundation scholarship recipients are challenged to push through life-altering obstacles and serve as pillars of courage and hope for those that follow in their wake.
By supporting a campaign, you are enabling current recipients to ride the wave of the Ripple Effect where they can raise money to help future student-athletes achieve success through an academic scholarship.
