North Carolina, 1984
• 1983 Academic All-America® Second team – Women's At-Large
• 1984 Academic All-America® First Team – Women's At-Larte
Susan Walsh was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 2002.
Susan Walsh began her competitive swimming career when she was eight years old and has been racing in the pool ever since. She swam at the University of North Carolina from 1980-84. Her 1981-82 Tar Heel swim teams finished third in the nation, while backstroker Walsh also excelled individually. She won eleven individual national collegiate championships and also competed at the Olympic Games. She won the Patterson Award in 1984 as the top senior student-athlete at UNC and also earned Academic All-American honors. Walsh hung up her goggles after graduation in 1984.
Her love of swimming led her back to the pool in 1992 as a part of North Carolina Masters Swimming. Her competitive fire lit, Walsh entered the US Masters Swimming Short Course National Championships after only three months of training. She swam for several more years before retiring for the second time.
As the mother of three swimmers Walsh constantly found herself poolside at her children’s practices and meets. She was not content to watch from the sidelines and so began her second comeback in 2004, competing in US Masters Swimming events. Walsh balanced her training with work, swimming three days a week on her lunch break and doing dry land training two other days. Her competitive drive and love for swimming has kept her at the top of this grueling sport for decades.