ORLANDO, Fla. – Lynn University’s Maurice Grabowski has been named the 2025-26 Sunshine State Conference Male Athlete of the Year. Grabowski was named the SSC Men’s Swimmer of the Year and the College Swimming Coaches Association of America Division II Men’s Swimmer of the Year.
The league began awarding Male and Female Athletes of the Year in the 1987-88 academic year. For nearly 40 years, student-athletes representing the conference’s 11 member institutions and 15 sponsored sports have earned the SSC’s most prestigious athletic honor.
The SSC Male Athlete of the Year award is voted on by athletic directors, senior woman administrators, athletic communication directors and faculty athletic representatives from each of the 11 SSC member institutions.
Grabowski, hailing from Neu-Ulm, Germany, helped lead the Fighting Knights to a third-place finish at the SSC Men’s Swimming Championship and a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships with 260 points, the highest NCAA finish in program history. He also anchored Lynn’s NCAA Division II record-setting 200-yard medley relay team.
At the SSC Championships, Grabowski won four individual gold medals while earning SSC Swimmer of the Meet honors for the second consecutive season. He set SSC records in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle while establishing championship-meet records in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. His 100-yard freestyle time of 42.24 ranks as the third-fastest performance in NCAA Division II history.
At the 2026 NCAA Division II Championships, Grabowski delivered one of the most dominant individual performances in NCAA Division II history. He captured four individual national championships, winning the 50-yard freestyle (18.97), 100-yard butterfly (45.34), 100-yard backstroke (45.78) and 100-yard freestyle (41.89), setting SSC records in each event. Grabowski also helped establish an NCAA Division II record in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:24.15, earning a fifth national championship as part of the relay team. In total, he claimed five NCAA national titles and earned seven First Team All-America honors during the national championship meet.
Grabowski is the fifth Fighting Knight to win the SSC Male Athlete of the Year award. He is also the eighth men's swimmer to win the award since its inception in 1987.
About the SSC:
Founded in 1975, Sunshine State Conference member institutions have won a total of 144 NCAA national championships across 15 sports and boast an NCAA Division II leading 89% Academic Success Rate. In 2025-26, the SSC marks its 50th anniversary, reflecting on a proud history of athletic and academic excellence.