University of Florida junior swimmers Brian Howell (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Anna-Liisa Pold (San Diego, Calif.) were named to the 2011 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Community Service Team, the league announced Wednesday.
“It’s always a positive thing when you see student-athletes doing great things and getting involved in the community,” head coach Gregg Troy said. “This is a tremendous example of two student-athletes making good choices and doing good things in their lives.”
Pold followed in the footsteps of former Gator and 2010 SEC Community Service Team member Gemma Spofforth (West Sussex, England), volunteering more than 44 hours this past semester at the Alachua County Crisis Center. At the center, Pold took phone calls and counseled people in need, dealing one-on-one with traumatic deaths, death notifications, suicidal individuals or highly disturbed persons.
The 2008 Olympian for Estonia also participated in the MLK Day Service Project, at which she joined 18 of her fellow female teammates in feeding the homeless at Gainesville’s St. Francis House. The two-time CSCAA Academic All-American also took time out of her rigorous schedule to help out at the annual UAA Climb for Cancer event, which gives children with cancer the opportunity to spend a day interacting and playing sports with UF student-athletes. This past August, Pold, a 2009 and 2010 SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, participated in a Run for Haiti 5K that raised over $6,800 for a UF College of Medicine medical aid trip to the earthquake-stricken country.
Howell, a 2009 CSCAA Academic All-American, was honored for volunteering at 10 different community service events since August of last year. The 2009 All-SEC Freshman in the 200-yard individual medley is a member of the UF Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and served as a Ben Hill Griffin Stadium tour guide to several local elementary schools. Like Pold, Howell also donated his time to the Climb for Cancer event.
As part of the MLK Day Service Project, the 2010 SEC Academic Honor Roll member joined 29 of his fellow male teammates at the local Children’s Home Society of Florida Tot Spot Thrift Store, boxing stuffed animals to be donated to needy children around Gainesville. Howell also donated several dozen pairs of shoes to underprivileged youth at Gainesville’s Lake Forest Elementary School, participated in a March of Dimes 5K run and spent time with several long-term children patients at Shands Hospital.
Pold and Howell will take a break in their volunteer efforts as they return to the pool at the 2011 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships, which Florida hosts for the first time since 2005. The swimming portion will take place at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Feb. 16-19.