NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Mara Walker of the Augustana Vikings women's swimming & diving team was named the co-recipient of the 2026 Chris Martin Perseverance Award, the CCIW announced Thursday.

The Chris Martin Perseverance Award honors a student-athlete who demonstrates an unwavering commitment and perseverance to overcome a physical challenge in order to compete at the highest levels of CCIW athletics. The CCIW Council of Presidents established the award in April 2019. Senior Woman Administrators at each CCIW institution brought forth nominations and voted for Walker and Jaxon Powell (Wheaton) to be the award's first-ever co-recipients last month. 

Chris Martin was the first full-time commissioner of the CCIW and served in that capacity from 2002 through 2019. This award recognizes his legacy of perseverance, enduring the challenges of a lifelong hearing disability and a highly accomplished tenure leading the CCIW through a period of growth and success.

Walker, a sophomore swimmer from Le Roy, Ill., has been a regular contributor to Augustana's swimming program. She holds four school records, including three individual marks and one relay record, and has been part of a conference-champion relay team in each of her first two seasons. Walker has also recorded at least two individual victories in each season of her career. She was named the 2024 CCIW First-Year Student-Athlete of the Year and received the CCIW Dennis Ryan Award earlier this year.

Her continued success followed a significant life event that required 21 days in the hospital, of which 10 were in the ICU, while being treated for a lung infection. Doctors told her she had a long road to recovery, and should not plan to return to competitive swimming until over halfway through our season, if at all. It was all depending on her healing process and how her body responded. "One thing about Mara is that she is a fighter and very determined," said Coach Ramsey Vens. "She had so much drive to get back to doing things that she loved to do." 

Walker made leaps and bounds with her recovery and was released to return to swimming almost a month before her anticipated release date. Fast forward a couple of months to the end of our swim season, and with mindful training, listening to her body, and pure grit, she was able to compete at a high level at our conference championship meet.