Mitchell Snyder came to Drury a relatively unheralded swimmer. The native of St. Petersburg, Florida finished fourth at the Florida state meet in the 500 free and was a three-time district champion in that same event. He was his team’s captain and while he enjoyed a degree of success throughout his prep and club career, no one predicted the success that was to come his way as a collegiate swimmer. “Mitchell’s development as a distance swimmer quite possibly was the best in the history of collegiate swimming,” stated Panther head coach Brian Reynolds. “He came out of high school a relatively average distance swimmer. By the time he graduated from Drury he became one of the nation’s best distance swimmers.”
Mitchell came to Drury in the fall of 2005 and quickly caught the attention of the Drury coaching staff for the energy he brought daily to the team’s workouts. His times improved his first two years and he earned All-America honors in 2006 and 2007. And he was an important part of Drury’s 2006 and 2007 NCAA-II national championship teams. In 2006 he finished second in the 1,650 free, sixth in the 500 free and ninth in the 1,000 free. In 2007 his improvement continued and he was second in the 1,650 and 1,000 freestyle events and fifth in the 500 free.
While he earned NCAA-II All-America honors his first two years, an individual national championship still remained elusive. Added to that was the frustration that came during the summer of 2007 when he narrowly missed his Olympic trials cut in the 1,500 meter freestyle. But he continued to set a standard of hard work that was unequalled. At the start of his junior year Reynolds commented, “Mitch’s work ethic continues and for that he has been voted the team’s hardest worker by his teammates each of the last two years. He is our Energizer Bunny and he brings 100 percent to practice every day.”
With his continued hard work Mitchell’s time to truly shine arrived in 2008. The Panthers, as a team, continued their dominance in the NCAA-II by winning the team titles in 2008 and 2009. But Mitchell, as a junior, won his first, and second, NCAA-II national titles with individual championships in the 1,000 and 1,650 freestyle events. He added a fourth place finish in the 500 free. A few months later he finished 24th in the Olympic trials.
Mitchell’s times continued to drop and the stage was set for a senior year that was only a dream four years earlier. “From the very beginning Mitchell was the kind of kid who came to practice every day and gave his all. He did that year round. He was not a seasonal swimmer at all,” continued Panther head coach Brian Reynolds. “He put the effort in during the summer with his club program in Florida and came back for practice every fall at a higher level. It was a process that took about four years. He continued to have more time drops during his senior year.” And what a senior year it was.
That final season, as he led the Panthers to another team title, Mitchell was named the 2009 NCAA-II Male Swimmer-of-the-Year. He repeated his national championship titles in both the 1,650 and 1,000 yard freestyle events. In the process of claiming those titles he set NCAA-II national records in both events. His time of 15:00.51 in the 1,650 was a new NCAA-II national record and his time of 8:57.06 in the 1,000 free was also a new national record. In fact, it was the first time in the history of the NCAA-II that anyone broke the 9-minute barrier in the 1,000 free. For his efforts Mitchell was recognized in the June, 2009 issue of Swimming World Magazine.
“I cannot tell you the number of coaches who sent Mitchell notes of congratulations for his performance at the 2009 national meet and for winning swimmer-of-the-year honors. They were very much aware of the enormous progress he had made during his Drury career. What he was able to accomplish from the start of his freshman year through his final national championship was nothing short of amazing,” concluded Reynolds.
Mitchell, a chemistry major, graduated from Drury on May 16, 2009 with a 3.59 grade point average. He attended pharmacy school at the University of Florida (2010-2014), graduating with a doctorate in pharmacy (Pharm.D.). This past June he completed a one-year residency at at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in New York City. Mitchell is now a clinical pharmacist for the New Jersey VA Health Care System in East Orange, New Jersey.
