By Josh Sadlock
Photo Courtesy of Alex Brannick
Each week, Lafayette athletes do great things on the playing field that earn them extra recognition. In the past few weeks, these stars made the news for her outstanding accomplishments.
To excel as a student-athlete at Lafayette means taking advantage of a multitude of opportunities. Few Leopards have done that as well as Alex Brannick ‘12.
Coming out of high school in Point Pleasant, N.J., Brannick sought a school that combined the best of both worlds; a coach and team that would help her reach her athletic potential as a swimmer, as well as a quality education.
For Brannick, Lafayette has provided that balance.
“The strongest point of the athletic department has been the focus on academics,” Brannick said, “I have done my best to take advantage of all Lafayette can offer.”
As a geology major, Brannick has undertaken several large research projects. Inspired by several geology brown bag talks her freshman year, Brannick has blazed ahead in research with Professors Kira Lawrence and David Sunderlin. With Lawrence, she studied paleoclimatology, working to determine sea surface temperature during the Plio-Pleistocene.
Her most recent project, with Professor Sunderlin, took her to Alaska for two weeks over the summer. There, she worked in the field studying insect fossils and leaf markings to determine temperature throughout geologic time.
“It was great working with her during our paleontology fieldwork in Alaska this past summer,” Sunderlin said, “We are now thinking hard about what the data that she gathered really means as she builds her honors thesis in geology. She is generating new ideas in the research project and following them with careful study.”
As Brannick continues to work on her honors thesis, her sights are set on studying vertebrate paleontology in graduate school. She has applied to several prestigious graduate programs including the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
In the pool, Brannick has been just as successful in her Lafayette career. With multiple school records to her name, the co-captain has cemented her status as one of Lafayette’s all-time greatest swimmers. The backstroker holds the school record in the 100-meter backstroke and in the 200-meter medley relay.
Although she is relatively new to the sport, only beginning competitive swimming at the age of 13, she has been swimming her whole life. Labeled a water rat by her mother from a young age, her desire and dedication to swimming helped her overcome her late start in the sport.
“She excels and enjoys the hard work swimming entails,” Head Coach Jim Dailey said. “Alex is willing to make sacrifices to be better later rather than being caught up in the moment. As a captain she demands respect.”
Brannick is currently dealing with an oblique fracture in her foot but will be ready to train by the time the swim team travels to Florida for the winter training trip.
“I’m going to deal with it the best I can and move on. I still get to have all the big meets of senior year,” she said.
Brannick has accomplished amazing things at Lafayette and was recently named the Maroon Club Scholar Athlete of the year, along with Track and Field’s Buddy Thompson ‘12. She credited her teammates, coaches and professors for their support.
“I am very fortunate to work with such a great group of people,” Brannick said. “They have made my college experience what it has been.”