For senior Grace Drawdy, not only has swimming impacted her life in numerous ways, but also that of events such as Swim Across America. Before Georgia Southern, Drawdy's life was impacted by various events and her push to swim at a collegiate level was in jeopardy. However, through perseverance and help along the way, she was able to have a swim career at Georgia Southern that she will cherish forever.

Her first two years at South Forsyth High School were more of a learning phase for Drawdy as she was still planning her future.

"Going into my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I really liked to swim but it was never something I though about doing at the collegiate level," Drawdy said.

Graduating in the Class of 2021, Drawdy was impacted by COVID-19 like so many others around the country and her path saw a major blockade.

"When I wasn't able to swim because of Covid, I knew I wasn't ready to be finished." Drawdy explains. "This is where I've found my friends, this is where I've been happiest, and it's where I found my identity throughout my whole life."

Drawdy them got to work to accomplish her goals and used her time during that summer to reset herself and train relentlessly.

"For me, it [times of Covid] was a way for me to change where I was headed in my life. Pools were closed and so to stay in shape I started running. That was a terrible decision," Drawdy jokingly said. "So, I decided to buy a wetsuit and swim in Lake Lanier every day."

Although Drawdy was talented enough to swim at the college level, recruiting became a tough task because of the worldwide pandemic.

"I didn't have anything tangible," Drawdy said. "I didn't have times or anything, so it made it very difficult for me to reach out to these schools and get any type of response, but Georgia Southern was one of the few that reached out to me early on and continued to follow me."

While Southern was not initially a school anywhere near her radar, Drawdy saw firsthand of what her next four years would look like.

"Based on my list of what I wanted in a college, Georgia Southern did not check any of those boxes for me," Drawdy goes on to say. "I came down on a visit with some friends and family, but I just fell in love with the school. I loved how much people loved it here."

Now in her senior season, Drawdy is reflective in the memories she has made and how it has changed her life for the better.

"Swimming here has taught me discipline and how to really advocate for myself," Drawdy reflects. "Jared [Benko] also does a great job of promoting community service and have that be a priority for all our teams and athletics. I've also really been able to work on my leadership skills through being a senior and also through SAAC. Jared and the athletics staff do a great job of not only making me a well-rounded athlete, but just a well-rounded individual that's ready to go into the real world."

On the side of community service and giving back, Drawdy has been a participant and major supporter for Swim Across America during her lifetime. SAA is a country-wide fundraiser for cancer research that meshes the best of both worlds for Drawdy as it was recently her seventh time going to the event.

"My first time going was in seventh or eighth grade and I did it with a friend who was raising money, but he broke his arm and couldn't swim and so I did it for him at the event," Drawdy said. "My eyes were just opened at how incredible it was that these people were coming to swim for cancer research."

The man running the show, and has been for the past nine years, is the CEO of the company in  Rob Butcher. A former swimmer and graduate of Georgia Southern, it meant the world to see his former team making it a priority to participate every year in SAA.

"For the team and Coach Morgan [McCafferty] to see a side of community service, where it's also purposeful for them, it meant a lot," Butcher said. "I hope as they go through life and mature beyond college and move into wherever life takes them, they are going to want to give back. Hopefully this an become part of that experience in life to volunteer and see that giving back is something that's meaningful and that it can leave a legacy too."



After losing his mother to cancer, Butcher hopes that Swim Across America not only raises an enormous amount of funds for cancer research, but also be a support outlet for those who are affected.

On his experience with his mother's battle, Butcher said, "We were not educated when we heard those words, 'you have cancer'. But the next three words that we want to hear after it is 'you have hope', and that's what I find very fulfilling about where I am. For the team to come and see that there is hope, there's a community, there's dollars being invested, it was phenomenal."

For Drawdy, raising awareness and funds for this cause has always been on the forefront of her mind, and outlets such as Swim Across America has given her a way to give back to others.

"I've always been passionate about cancer research and raising awareness about it. In seventh grade, I went on a Lighthouse Family Retreat where we helped serve families that had kids with cancer," Drawdy said. "That plus Swim Across America really opened my eyes to see that this is a place where I can really make a big impact. I can combine my two passions in Swim Across America and it became something I was really involved with and how I can give back throughout high school, and I worked my hardest to now bring it to Georgia Southern."

After watching the event grow into what it is today, Drawdy always looked up to those college teams participating when she was younger. But now, it all came full circle when her team participated the past few seasons.

A main phrase one sees at SAA is "Why I give back is why I swim." For Drawdy, it is for those that she has impacted through her service.

"For me, I swim for all the people that I touched at Lighthouse Family Retreat. You know, there was some patients that I met there that didn't even make it the next month. I had a friend that I raised money for SSA with that ended up getting leukemia during his time in high school, and another friend that I worked with my senior years of high school that lost his battle with cancer that next year. I swim for all the people that have lost their lives to cancer and are still in that battle now."

In her senior year with the Georgia Southern swim and dive team, Grace Drawdy not only has majorly impacted all those through cancer research fundraising, but also her teammates today. For Drawdy, through her efforts and lives touched because of her work, she can say that giving back is one of the most fulfilling things one can ever do in their lives.