Brenau University swimmer Olga Bukowska has been selected as the 2025-26 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. LeRoy Walker Champions of Character Award winner.
The national award, named in honor of former NAIA and U.S. Olympic Committee President Dr. LeRoy Walker, is given each year to an outstanding student-athlete for their academics, athletics, leadership, and dedication to living the Champions of Character core values. Only one student-athlete is selected each year from among the thousands competing at the more than 230 NAIA member schools.
Bukowska thanked the Ernest Ledford Grindle Athletics Department, fellow student-athletes and professors who recommended her for the honor. She also credited the supportive environment of Brenau, which challenges students to live extraordinary lives
“This award is a great honor and a symbol of trust put in me, and I am truly grateful for this recognition, yet I cannot say I achieved this award all alone,” she said. “If not for the atmosphere of encouragement to be something more, created by Brenau, chances given, opportunities provided, trust bestowed, and people met, especially the girls on our team, I would not be able to become who I am today. This award is not solely my own, and it does not only define me; it defines the environment of our team and our university.”
“If not for the atmosphere of encouragement to be something more, created by Brenau, chances given, opportunities provided, trust bestowed, and people met, especially the girls on our team, I would not be able to become who I am today. This award is not solely my own, and it does not only define me; it defines the environment of our team and our university.”
Olga Bukowsa
Mandi Bell, head swim coach, agreed and also credited Bukowska with creating a supportive environment for her team.
“When a student-athlete is honored for character, it says something not just about her, but about the environment she has helped build here — the culture in our locker room, the standards our swimmers hold one another to, and the way our university invests in the whole person,” she said. “I hope every prospective student-athlete and family looking at Brenau sees in this award exactly what we have known all along: this is a place where young women of substance are seen, supported, and given room to lead.”
Bell added, “Olga’s recognition is a moment of real pride for our program and for Brenau. Olga is a returning captain, a 4.0 scholar, and a servant leader who makes everyone around her better.”
A native of Sosnowiec, Poland, Bukowska traveled nearly 5,000 miles away from home to attend Brenau on a swim scholarship. A senior, she is the co-captain of the swim team and has previously served on the Student–Athlete Advisory Committee. This past February, she placed ninth in the individual medley at the NAIA National Championship.
It’s the third significant award of 2026 for Bukowska. She was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference’s Colonel John Sullivan Female Student Athlete of Character in July and was also awarded Brenau’s Baxter-Bryan Scholarship in the spring, the university’s highest academic honor.
“Few athletes reflect the core values espoused by Dr. Leroy Walker as faithfully as Olga,” Michael Lochstampfor, Brenau’s vice president of athletics, said. “Her selfless dedication to her team and unwavering commitment to his ideals showcase her true character. We are immensely proud of Olga for this recognition of her as this year’s Dr. Leroy Walker Champions of Character Award recipient.”
The NAIA Awards website calls Bukowska “the kind of student-athlete this award was created to recognize.”
Bukowska is vice president of Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, president of the psychology club, a Sullivan Foundation fellow, a resident assistant, and a member of multiple clubs. Additionally, she volunteers locally with Project YET and Swim Across America, and teaches swim lessons.
The NAIA National Awards celebrate the individuals who exemplify the very best of the association. Recognizing outstanding achievement in competition, the classroom, leadership, character, and service, these honors represent the highest individual recognition bestowed upon NAIA student-athletes, coaches and administrators.
Bukowska will be formally recognized at the 2027 NAIA National Convention in San Antonio in April.
