WATCH: Florida Tech’s Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Recognizes Swimmer Kennedy Nolan

By  //  January 17, 2022

Nolan is pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering

Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Ep. 17: In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we feature Panther women’s swimmer Kennedy Nolan, a senior who is majoring in Civil Engineering.

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field.

In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we feature Panther women’s swimmer Kennedy Nolan, a senior who is majoring in Civil Engineering.

Originally from Brookeville, Maryland, Nolan has recorded two individual victories this season in the 200 fly and has been a part of three relay victories.

She also holds the program record for fastest time in the 100 fly (57.10) and 200 fly (2:06.11), both of which were set at the 2020 SSC Championships.

Nolan has been named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and Florida Tech Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in each of her three years at Tech.

We sat down with Kennedy to talk about how she wants to put her degree to use for her career and what she’s enjoyed the most about her time as a swimmer for the Crimson and Gray.

■ What’s your major at Florida Tech and why did you choose this? Is it something that you’ve always wanted to be a part of?

I’m a senior in Civil Engineering. In high school, I got to take Project Lead the Way courses and that’s where I really decided that I wanted to pursue civil engineering in college.

■ What was it about Florida Tech that drew you here?

They had a really good civil engineering program as well as a swim program, which is something I really wanted to do both of and the location is really great here. The beach is really close by and the class sizes are super small. So that really was good for my academics.

■ How do you plan to use your degree after graduation?

So, after graduation, I have a job in Baltimore, Maryland. So I’ll be moving up there to work for to Kimley-Horn. I’m going to be a civil analyst in the land development team.

■ What are some of the exciting projects that you’ve been able to work on in classes here?

This past semester I’ve been working in senior design one. My team and I are designing a homeless shelter in Melbourne.

Florida, and we get to use all aspects of civil engineering to come up with this idea. Create it, design it and then ultimately present it at the senior design showcase.

■ What’s something you’ve learned in your classes about civil engineering during your time here at Tech that was eye-opening to you?

I’ve been able to take an environmental engineering class as well as water and wastewater engineering class and these are topics that I didn’t really have a lot of experience with prior to coming to college. And I found there’s a lot of sustainability issues that can be solved through civil engineering and that’s something I really took an interest to while I was here.

■ How do you manage all of it once you’re in season?

Time management is a key to getting everything done. We practice morning, night and we have a lift Monday, Wednesday, Friday, so it is a very demanding schedule, but I’m always using my planner.

I have study groups that I meet with, and we help each other in our classes. And I really learned to kind of manage my time effectively.

The Sunshine State Conference Championship meet is by far one of my favorite memories with the Florida Tech swim team. We train all year long for this meet. (Florida Tech image)

■ How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you’re doing now and what do you take from swimming that you apply to your studies?

Obviously swimming at a college level is very demanding. You have to be very dedicated to be a college athlete.

That has translated to my school life, my academic life, which I think is very important and has helped me get a job, get internships, and I definitely attribute that to swimming.

■ What advice would you give to an athlete that’s looking to come here that might get into the world of civil engineering?

I would definitely say to get involved with as many clubs and organizations as you can in high school.

Reach out to your professors in high school, you can reach out to the professors here and get help. And they can give you recommendations for classes, clubs and extracurriculars that you might want to be involved in here and as well as in your high school.

■ What are some of your favorite memories with Panther swimming?

The Sunshine State Conference Championship meet is by far one of my favorite memories with the Florida Tech swim team. We train all year long for this meet.

It’s a super high-intensity meet, everybody’s cheering, everybody’s really excited for this meet. Coach David and Coach Laura, they’ve been preparing us for this upcoming sunshine state meet but, in the past, it’s always been such a great experience.

■ You’ve had plenty of success with relays this season, how confident are you and the team heading into the closing stretch?

I’m very confident in our ability to perform our best. We’ve been training harder than we ever have this season. We’re ready to attack the Sunshine State Conference meet in February.

Coach David and Coach Laura have really given their all to our team, so we’re going to show what we’re made of and give it all we can in the pool in February.

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