STANFORD, Calif. -- Three Cardinal have been named Academic All-Americans for men’s swimming and diving by the College Sports Communicators.
Ron Polonsky was named to the first team for the third consecutive year, with Liam Custer earning second-team honors and Henry McFadden earning third-team honors. This is the first selection for Custer and McFadden.
Polonsky, a senior computer science major from Haifa, Israel, carries a 3.97 cumulative grade-point average. He earned six All-America honors at the NCAA Championships last month to close his collegiate career with 23 in all. He was first team in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200 individual medley, 800 freestyle relay, and 400 medley relay, and second team in the 200 breast and 200 medley relay.
Polonsky set five school records during the NCAA Championships – in the 100 breast (50.47), 200 breast (1:50.95), 800 free relay (6:06.69), 200 medley relay (1:22.23), and 400 medley relay (3:00.91). He was fifth in the 100 breast and fifth in the 200 IM at the NCAA Championships.
He is a 2020 and 2024 Olympian for Israel – reaching the Paris semifinals in the 200-meter individual medley -- and holds Israeli record in the 100m breast (59.63), 200m IM (1:57.01), and 400m free relay (3:14.03).
Custer, a junior management science and engineering major from Sarasota, Florida, carries a 3.77 GPA. He earned second-team All-America honors in the 1,650 free, placing 16th overall. He ranks fourth in that event in Stanford history and third in the 1,000 free.
McFadden, a sophomore from Haddonfield, New Jersey, with a 3.87 GPA, was the Atlantic Coast Conference champion in the 200 free and earned three All-America honors in 2024. He was a first-team All-American in the 200 free and 800 free relay, and second-team in the 400 free relay. McFadden has six All-America honors overall.
McFadden was eighth in the NCAA championship final in the 200 free, after setting a school record of 1:30.83 in the prelims. In the Stanford all-time Top-15 lists, McFadden is No. 5 in the 100 free and 500 free, No. 11 in the 200 butterfly, and is part of school-record teams in the 400 free relay and 800 free relay.
This is the third year that men’s swimming and diving has had its own Academic All-America category. Previously, the sport was under “At-large.” Overall, 17 different Stanford men’s swimmers and divers have earned 26 Academic All-America honors.
Stanford men’s swimming and diving Academic All-Americans all-time:
2025: Ron Polonsky, Men’s swimming and diving, first team
2025: Liam Custer, MSD, second team
2025: Henry McFadden, MSD, third team
2024: Ron Polonsky, MSD, first team
2024: Luke Maurer, MSD, second team
2024: Rick Mihm, MSD, second team
2023: Preston Forst, MSD, first team
2023: Leon MacAlister, MSD, first team
2023: Ron Polonsky, MSD, first team
2023: Luke Maurer, MSD, second team
2022: Leon MacAlister, At-large, third team
2021: Alex Liang, At-large, third team
2012: Bobby Bollier, At-large, first team
2011: Bobby Bollier, At-large, first team
2009: Jason Dunford, At-large, third team
2007: Ben Wildman-Tobriner, At-large, first team
2006: Ben Wildman-Tobriner, At-large, first team
1999: Justin Ewers, At-Large, second team
1996: Ray Carey, At-large, first team
1995: Kurt Grote, At-large, third team
1992: Alex Kostich, At-large, third team
1987: Pablo Morales, At-large, first team
1986: Pablo Morales, At-large, honorable mention
1985: Pablo Morales, At-large, second team
1984: Charlie Johnson, At-large, first team
1983: Charlie Johnson, At-large, first team