Kara McCurdy ’22 Announced As Providence College’s Nominee For NCAA Woman Of The Year

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Former Providence College swimmer Kara McCurdy ’22 was announced as the school’s nominee for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award on Monday, July 18. Among the nearly 220,000 women competing in college sports, McCurdy is one of 577 nominations for the prestigious honor.
 
For 32 Years the NCAA Woman of the Year program has honored the academic achievements, athletics excellence, community service and leadership of outstanding female college athletes. As 2022 marks the 50^thanniversary of Title IX, this year’s NCAA Woman of the Year award provides an important opportunity to honor incredible women and reflect on competing in intercollegiate sports and also impacting the community.
 
McCurdy graduated Magna Cum Laude from Providence College in May 2022 with a degree in Health Policy and Management. She also held a double minor in math and French and was honored as a four-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team selection. She was inducted into the Charles V. Chapin Honor Society for Health Policy and Management, which recognizes HPM majors with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.55 or higher. She also is a member of the Pi Delta Phi National French Honor Society, which is awarded to French majors or minors who are in the top 35% of their class and have a GPA (in French coursework) of 3.0 or higher. 
 
McCurdy also competed for the Friars’ swimming and diving program during each of her four years at Providence, specializing in freestyle events of varying distances. 
 
Prior to McCurdy attending Providence College in the fall of 2018, she had just completed treatment for a cancer diagnosis she received in August of 2017. In reflecting on the diagnosis and her treatment, McCurdy acknowledges that the experience played a critical role in her immense growth as a scholar, an athlete and a leader.
 
The experience led her to develop a passion for helping others, as an aspiring public health professional.
 

That passion to help others also fueled her participation in community outreach, as she participated in a variety of community service events throughout her time at Providence College. Highlighting those events was Swim Across America, which brought together components of her own life experience. The fundraising event, which raised over $250,000 for cancer research in Rhode Island in its most…