One of Pace’s most successful men’s swimmers this year, Andresious Cyprianos, has received multiple awards and honors, something he would have never dreamed of growing up in Zimbabwe.

Swimming has been a passion of Cyprianos since his childhood in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Growing up in a third-world country, however, was enough for him to realize that he needed a change.

When the opportunity to swim at the collegiate level in America arose, he didn’t pass on in.

“Pace offered me a great opportunity to succeed here so I could not turn it down,” Cyprianos said. “I have also always wanted to live here in New York.”

Cyprianos loves competition at Pace and being a part of a team sport that he competes on a regular basis, but this was not the case back home.

“I went from a club where I was the oldest by three years so there was no competition,” Cyprianos said. “Here at Pace, it is just competition everywhere.”

Training regimens have also been different. The swim team has access to the pool year round and has off-season training eight hours a week, unlike Zimbabwe.

“When I was home, there was no heat in the pools so we could only swim in the summer,” the sophomore said. “So in the winter there was no swimming at all.”

Helping lead workouts was Cyprianos’ head coach Dan Allen, something that Cyprianos did not have back home.

“Back home when I swam I actually did not have a coach,” Cyprianos said. “I would just have to pick up things that I saw other coaches do.”

But there was definitely a learning curve that Cyprianos had to adjust to when he came to Pace.

“I was not used to being told what to do when I swam,” Cyprianos said. “I would just literally get into the pool and do what I wanted to.”

However, after adjusting to the routine at Pace, Cyprianos saw success in his game.

At the 2016 Northeast-10 Conference Championships, he clocked in at 49.61 in the 100-yard butterfly, earning him a silver medal at the competition. This year he hopes to win a gold medal in that competition.

Cyprianos was also named on the 2016-17 Preseason All-Conference Team by CollegeSwimming.com.