BALTIMORE, MD – Johns Hopkins men's swimming graduate student Matt McGough has been named a finalist for the NCAA LGBTQ Student-Athlete of the Year. He is one of five finalists for the award, which will be presented at the NCAA Convention on January 21, 2022 in Indianapolis, IN.
 
NCAA Division III created a trio of awards in 2020 to recognize student-athletes, coaches and staff who identify as members of the LGBTQ community, as well as athletics departments or conference offices that foster inclusive environments. The awards, which were first proposed by the Division III LGBTQ Working Group, were formally introduced at the working group's LGBTQ and Allies reception on January 24, 2021, at the NCAA Convention in Anaheim, CA.
 
The Division III LGBTQ OneTeam Awards are an extension of the working group's ongoing efforts to elevate awareness of issues relevant to the LGBTQ community. The three awards are the Student-Athlete of the Year, Administrator/Coach/Staff of the Year and Athletics Department/Conference of the Year.
 
The Student-Athlete of the Year award honors the academic achievements, athletics excellence and service/leadership of LGBTQ student-athletes. To be eligible, a nominee must self-identify as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning or another underrepresented sexual orientation or gender identity);  must have participated in an NCAA-sponsored sport at a Division III member institution; must have attended a Division III institution for one full academic year;  must be in good academic standing; must have demonstrated service/leadership in LGBTQ inclusion in athletics.
 
A member of the Blue Jay swim team for five seasons, McGough graduated last May with degrees in public health and economic and is currently pursuing a master's in public health with a concentration in population  health. He has also earned certificates in LGBTQ public health and public health economics from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
 
McGough is a five-time All-American, holds the school record in the 400 IM (3:54.15) and boasts the three fastest times in the event in school history. He was a member of the 800 Free Relay team that finished fourth at the 2019 NCAA Championships, and also finished ninth in the 400 IM. McGough earned All-America honors from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association (CSCAA) in the 200 IM and 800 Free Relay after the 2020 championships were cancelled. He added CSCAA All-America honors in the 400 IM after the 2021 championships were cancelled. In addition, McGough is a four-time CSCAA Scholar All-American, just the eighth swimmer in program history to do so.
 
McGough was a member of the Johns Hopkins LGBTQ Community Council and is the founder and president of JHU's chapter of Athlete Ally, an organization for LGBTQ advocacy and awareness in athletics. He was also a member of Blue Jays LEAD, as well as the Hopkins Undergraduate Bioethics Society (HUBS) and Delta Omega Alpha Honors Society.
 
Athlete Ally's approach to LGBTQ inclusion has centered around leveraging allyship as well as engaging student-athletes and the greater community in conversation. McGough has developed and implemented various facilitated-discussion events that promote inclusion through one's own individual engagement with topics rather than more traditional education. These conversations have centered around intersectionality, mental health, allyship, "coming out," and representation in athletics and have resulted in tangible changes to JHU's policies around LGBTQ+ inclusion in athletics.
 
As an undergraduate, McGough was a student research assistant for the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative, head facility manager at the O'Connor Recreation Center for two years, data analyst for the Aquatics Coalition on a project examining COVID-19 facility preparedness and safety, Bystander Intervention Training (BIT) trainer, and was a health policy analysis intern at the Kaiser Family Foundation in their Program on the Affordable Care Act and Health Reform. He was named the Johns Hopkins University Student Employee of the Year in 2021. McGough is currently a research assistant for a research team looking to expand preventative HIV treatment to Medicaid-eligible individuals and the uninsured via federal legislation.