WALTHAM, Mass. – Three members of the Brandeis University swimming and diving teams have earned Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA). Junior Sam Dienstag of Wilmette, Illinois, was honored for the men's team, while seniors Bailey Gold of Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, and Ema Rennie of Dublin, Ohio, were honored for the women's team. This is the first year that the CSC has honored an Academic All-District team strictly for swimming and diving teams. Eligible team members must have a 3.50 grade point average as a sophomore or above, and they are now eligible for CSC Academic All-America honors.
Dienstag is in the midst of a record-breaking season. He has qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships in the 1,650-yard freestyle as the fourth seed with a time of ???. He earned All-University Athletic Association honors in the event with a third-place finish at the championships. Dienstag also established Brandeis records in the 200-, 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events this season, while participating on the Judges' record-setting 200-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relays. Dienstag qualified for the NCAAs as a first-year, when the meet was canceled due to COVID-19, and as a sophomore.
Outside of the pool, he owns a 3.69 grade-point average as an economics and business double major. He is a two-time Academic All-UAA and College Swim Coaches Association of American All-Academic selection, who is a member of Brandeis's Investment Club.
Gold has been one of the Judges' top performers on the women's side this season. She holds individual school records in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100- and 200-yard butterfly races, as well as all five relay events. At the 2023 UAA Championships, Gold finished seventh in 200 fly and 15th in the 100 fly.
In the classroom, Gold owns a 3.98 grade-point average as a double major in neuroscience and biology. She is a student-worker in Brandeis's Neuroscience and Cognition Lab who earned a scholarship to pursue her research, enabling her to present at SciFest last summer. Gold is also a member of Brandeis's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Advocates For Health organization and Sexual Violence Student Advisory Committee.
Rennie is Brandeis's record holder in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events, as well as a member of the record-holding 200- and 400-free and 200-medley relays. She missed the 2023 UAA Championships, but came in eighth in the 400-free as a junior and 22nd in the 100-free.
Rennie owns a 3.94 grade-point average as an American Studies major. She has been on the Dean's List every semester and the Academic All-UAA team each semester she has been eligible. As a sophomore, Rennie was the recipient of a Giumette Academic Achievement Award for academic excellence.
Dienstag is a 2020 graduate of New Trier High School.
Gold is a 2019 graduate of Governor Livingston High School.
Rennie is a 2019 graduate of Dublin Scioto High School.
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For more information on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America program, visit academicallamerica.com.