Alexander “Alex” Gadegaard Shah, a rising senior on Fordham’s swim team, is back at the Olympics. 

Shah, a psychology major at Fordham College at Rose Hill, will compete in the 100-meter freestyle in Paris on July 30. It will be the second time that he has represented his home country of Nepal in the Olympics. 

In 2021, he competed in the pandemic-delayed 2020 games in Tokyo, finishing with a time of 53.41 in the same race. Since then, Shah has competed both with the Fordham swim team and on his own. In February, his 52:17 finish at the World Aquatic Championships in Doha, Qatar, earned him his spot on Nepal’s team again this year.

Shah talked with Fordham Now just before his departure.

What are your hopes for Paris? 

I want to break that 52-second barrier. That was something that I wanted to do in February. I also want to lower that record for Nepal, where I currently hold that 100 freestyle record as a national record. So from a broader standpoint, it’s also about representing my country to the best of my ability.

How has your time at Fordham prepared you for the Olympics? 

College swimming is very demanding. We race a lot, and training is a bit more intense because I’m also trying to balance student life, like studying for exams. But it’s also a huge advantage to be a Division 1 college athlete because of the competition around us. It’s helped me practice and compete at a high level. 

What about 100-meter freestyle is so appealing to you?

Growing up, I just enjoyed sprinting more than distance training. I wasn’t really about going long distances. I found that pretty boring. Also, the 100-meter freestyle at the Olympics is one of the most watched final events in the whole competition. It really comes down to pure athleticism, and it’s just really a fun race.

Are you going to approach this competition any differently than the last one?

I’m definitely fitter and stronger than I was then, and that’s through training at Fordham. I’ve been able to include lifting into my swimming routine, and as a sprinter, that’s very valuable. Working with Coach Tom Wilkins, my aerobic capacity has really increased as well. I have to just trust the process and look back at some of the other races that I’ve had this last year. Those races have helped me understand exactly what I need to do. 

Have there been any setbacks along the way that you’ve overcome?

This last year has been super important because it’s been that Olympic year for qualifying, and I didn’t know how well I’d do in February. But it all worked out in the end when Tom Wilkins came in. I felt really supported and prepared in terms of racing training. I haven’t swum this fast in my life before, and I haven’t felt this good before. 

Shah is now a member of the men’s swimming and diving team at Fordham. On Oct. 22, he competed in his first Fordham swimming competition, where he placed first in the 50-yard freestyle race and third in the 100-yard freestyle race against Monmouth University. In this video, Shah talks about what it was like to participate in the Olympics and how he’s found a family at Fordham.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Swensen, a Fordham College at Rose Hill alumnus and U.S. Air Force pararescueman, received the medal in a Dec. 13 ceremony at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

He accepted it with honor but also a hint of surprise, according to an Air Force statement.

“It’s weird to receive so much attention for something that I feel anyone else would’ve done on the battlefield that night,” said Swensen. “I’m honored my peers think I deserve this medal.”

He was embedded with an Army Special Forces detachment on Sept. 13 and 14 in Farah Province, Afghanistan, as it fought to reclaim the Anar Darah District Center and police headquarters from the Taliban. He was leading a ground assault team through a compound when Taliban fighters ambushed them from less than 100 meters away with heavy machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades. A grenade struck the wall behind Swensen, wounding him and five of his teammates.

Trapped and separated from the support fire team, Swensen returned fire and directed his teammates to safety and also ran through heavy fire to rescue a soldier incapacitated by his injuries. “As gunfire sprayed overhead, Swensen treated the life-threatening wounds before moving him out of danger,” the Air Force said in its statement. “Swensen, continuing to ignore his injuries, grouped the casualties and prepared for extraction.”

He carried an injured soldier on his shoulders and directed the team to the helicopter landing zone 800 meters away. After they arrived, the Taliban ambushed them again, and Swensen remained exposed to enemy fire as he directed others behind cover and continued to treat the critically injured.

After a helicopter evacuated the injured, he led the remaining team members to retrieve four additional casualties.

Only then did he take treatment for his own wounds.

At Fordham, Swensen was a captain on the swim and dive team, “a great leader and a great example for everybody to follow,” said Steve Potsklan, head coach for men’s and women’s swimming and diving.

“It is truly an honor and a privilege to have Dan represent our program and our university,” he said. “He was a tireless worker and a team leader here at Fordham, and it doesn’t surprise me that the total commitment and effort he brought to the pool every day has carried over into his career in the U.S. Air Force and has now been rewarded with this incredible honor.”

Also awarded the Silver Star on Dec. 13 was Tech. Sgt. Gavin Fisher, honored for his own gallantry in August in Afghanistan’s Ghazni Province.

“You may ask yourself how these two individuals in the face of such adversity performed so admirably,” said Lt. Col. Douglas Holliday, commander of 58th Rescue Squadron. “Airmen like Dan and Gavin are part of a profession that dedicates their lives to a motto ‘That Others May Live.’”

With seven teams honored, Fordham ranks third-highest among Atlantic 10 schools. Dayton and George Washington universities tied at nine teams. Richmond had eight teams.

In addition, Fordham has posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. It was recognized as one of 56 NCAA Division I programs, and one of three current Atlantic 10 schools, with one or more teams that have been recognized in each of the past nine years.

APRs for all Division I teams were released on May 14. Teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason, and they also can face penalties for continued low academic performance.

Those Ram teams honored are baseball, golf, men’s swimming and diving, men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, women’s indoor track and field, and women’s tennis. Women’s indoor track and field and women’s tennis have both been honored in each of the nine years the NCAA has released the scores. Baseball is recognized for the seventh time; Men’s indoor and outdoor track and field programs are recognized for the fifth time, as is the men’s swimming & diving program.

“We are honored to be one of 56 NCAA Division I programs that have had a team honored in each of the nine years the NCAA has been compiling APR scores,” said Director of Athletics David Roach. “These student-athletes have demonstrated that they are as serious about their academic accomplishments as they are about their athletic success, and we are extremely proud of them as well as of their coaches and the academic support staff.”

The 1,049 teams publicly recognized for high achievement represent 631 women’s teams and 418 men’s or mixed squads. In 2013, 976 teams were recognized.

The public recognition awards are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort. The APR provides a real-time look at a team’s academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each individual student-athlete. The APR includes eligibility, retention, and graduation in the calculation.

The scores required to be in the top 10 ranged from 980 to a perfect 1,000, depending on the sport, with the majority of top 10 teams earning a perfect APR.

“Each year, more and more teams are achieving perfect APR scores,” said NCAA president Mark Emmert, adding that member schools are “providing tremendous opportunities for student-athletes” to succeed both on and off the field.

The NCAA honors are the latest academic awards earned by Fordham student-athletes. This year two student-athletes, Abigail Corning (women’s basketball) and Bret Biestek (football), were named Capital One Academic All-District, with Biestek going on to earn First Team Capital One Academic All-America® honors.