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| Pomona-Pitzer athletics photo |
Alexandra Turvey, a 21-time All-American Pomona-Pitzer swimmer who majored in biology at Pomona College, is the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year.
Turvey was announced as the winner Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, during a celebration of the Top 30 honorees.
The Woman of the Year award was created in 1991 to recognize graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves in athletics, academics, leadership and community service. Turvey is Pomona-Pitzer's first NCAA Woman of the Year honoree.
"This is truly such an honor. I stand here tonight not just as a single person but as someone who represents thousands of other female student-athletes across the country. Today was such an inspiration, getting to spend time and hang out with 30 inspiring, hardworking, intelligent, powerful women," Turvey said in her acceptance speech for the award. "When I really think about my NCAA experience, I'm struck by how it can bridge so many divides and really create community in the most unexpected places."
Swimmer Alexandra Turvey — a 21-time All-American who is now pursuing a dual medical degree and PhD — is the @NCAA’s 2024 Woman of the Year.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) January 16, 2025
Turvey, who competed for the @Sagehens in her undergraduate years, shares what the recognition means to her and why she says the “NCAA… pic.twitter.com/jq2N4Xt8TR
Over the course of her four-year career at Pomona, Turvey led her swimming and diving team to immense success. Yet this evolution did not start in the pool. It began out of the water under the fluorescent lights of the weight room.
"When I came (on the team), I think a lot of the women didn't really view the weight room as a space that was really safe or welcoming for them," she recalled. "I made it my personal mission to make the weight room a place where we felt that we owned, and we were in charge and we were welcome."
To start, Turvey took over the aux cord in the weight room, playing music that motivated her and her teammates. She encouraged her teammates to ask someone to step aside when they needed to finish a rep. Soon, her teammates' timidness grew into comfort and then complete confidence.
"Those small, minute changes really became a big tangible force in that four-year period," she said. "Seeing my final year, how we walked in like we owned the place — we'd play our loud music, we'd sometimes be a little bit obnoxious — but seeing that transformation in the span of just four years and sort of cultural shift was really motivating and inspiring."