SAN FRANCISCO – Cal senior oarsman Natan Wegrzycki-Szymczyk has been named the Pac-12 Men's Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the conference office announced on Friday morning. Wegrzycki-Szymczyk is the first in Cal men's rowing history to receive this honor, which was first established by the Pac-12 during the 2007-08 school year.

The award, presented annually in each of the 24 sports the Pac-12 sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes that are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline. In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50 percent of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution.

A native of Krakow, Poland, Wegrzycki-Szymczyk boasts a 3.695 GPA and will graduate this Saturday with a degree in sociology. Wegrzycki-Szymczyk will be honored during Cal's commencement as the 2018 recipient of the Jake Gimbel Prize, awarded annually to the graduating male student-athlete who best exemplifies the true "Golden Bear" spirit in successfully integrating his athletic and academic pursuits. A Pac-12 and IRA All-Academic selection in 2017, Wegrzycki-Szymczyk boasted the highest GPA on the Cal men's rowing team this season and received a Pac-12 Postgraduate Scholarship, which he will use to continue his studies at the University of Cambridge.

Wegrzycki-Szymczyk has matched his success in the classroom with outstanding athletic achievement during his time in Berkeley. The two-time reigning Pac-12 Men's Rowing Athlete of the Year, Wegrzycki-Szymczyk helped the Bears' varsity eight to a silver medal at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships. As a sophomore in 2016, he helped lead the varsity eight to both a Pac-12 Championship and IRA National Championship, as the Bears won the Varsity Challenge Cup for the first time since 2010. This season, Wegrzycki-Szymczyk remains a mainstay in the Bears' varsity eight, which is currently ranked second in the nation.

Highly accomplished on the international stage as well, Wegrzycki-Szymczyk has been a member of the Polish National Team since 2010 and competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, finishing seventh in the men's single scull. A junior world champion in the single sculls and two-time silver medalist (2014, 2016) at the Under-23 World Championships, Wegrzycki-Szymczyk has also competed at the senior world championships, most recently winning the B final in the single sculls at the 2017 World Rowing Championships in Sarasota, Florida.

Wegrzycki-Szymczyk and the Golden Bears will be in action this Sunday at the Pac-12 Championships at Lake Natoma. Cal is seeking its second conference title in the last three years and the 17^th overall in program history.

For more updates and information throughout the year, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMRowing), Instagram (@CalMRowing), and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalMRowing).