FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's and women's swimming and diving teams have both been recognized as Scholar All-America Teams by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) it was announced this week.

The awards are in recognition of teams' that achieved a grade point average of 3.0 of higher during the 2016 fall semester.  Both the Patriots men and women posted better than a 3.28 team grade point average in the fall.

"It's great to be recognized, especially in a week where we are going back to school," Mason head coach Peter Ward said.  "They've done a phenomenal job to achieve All-America honors as a team with where they rank both nationally and among Atlantic 10 schools.  It's a great achievement and shows their dedication to being true student-athletes."

The Mason men's team earned one of the top team GPA's in the nation with a combined 3.28 GPA.  The Patriots posted the second-best team GPA among Atlantic 10 Conference teams and 18th overall among the 86 Division I men's programs qualified to be selected as a CSCAA Scholar All-America Team.

"Swimmers are motivated and pretty disciplined people in their work," Ward said.  "Their lives are very busy between the classroom, study hall and workouts.  They performed very well in the classroom and that's important to us and our program.  What they are doing in the classroom is more important than anything else, so to see them achieve like that, I'm proud of them."

The Mason women's team also excelled in the classroom during the fall semester with a combined 3.42 GPA, ranking 46th out of the 162 Division I women's programs that were recognized as Scholar All-America Teams.  The Patriots mark of 3.42 also ranked second among the ten Atlantic 10 teams that qualified. 

The Patriots are back in the pool Wednesday, Feb. 15 through Saturday, Feb. 18 when they compete in the Atlantic 10 Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.  Events are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. each day of the competition.

"It's important for us as coaches to make sure that everyone is getting what they need to prepare for the Atlantic 10 Championships," said Ward.  "It's a really exciting time as we get ready for a championship that we have worked hard to prepare for.  I think we are in a pretty good place in our preparation." 

For the latest information on the George Mason swimming and diving teams, follow @MasonSwimDive on twitter.