A junior All-American swimmer at the College of Staten Island, Vladislav Romanov has been named the CUNY Athletic Conference / Hospital for Special Surgery Scholar-Athlete of the Month for the final month of 2010.
 
“I always thought I could use my brain to get what I want,” says the determined Business Finance major, “So I take my dreams and set goals and I do what I have to do to achieve them.”
 
Romanov holds a grade point average of 3.617. With a highly driven attitude, he wants to become an entrepreneur where he will create and run his own business.
 
His strong-minded approach extends from the classroom in the swimming pool. Though the month of December saw just two events it was the quality he made of them that shined. On December 5, he traveled to the ECAC Championship where he finished first in both the 200 Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:50.09 and in the 100 Yard Backstroke with a time of 51.26. The versatile swimmer finished the 200 Yard IM in 6th place out of 60 participants. Alongside teammates Nikolay Shevchenko, Danila Novikov and Joe Lee, Romanov finished the 200 Yard Medley Relay in third place with a time of 1:35.33.
 
Just a few days later on December 8, the Dolphins defeated Brooklyn College where Romanov finished with three golden wins that included the 200 Yard Medley Relay, 1000 Yard Freestyle and 100 Yard Backstroke.
 
“I am motivated by competition,” said Romanov, “When we go to the Nationals or the ECAC championships, people there know what kind of swimmer I am, and that is a great feeling. Them seeing me as competition is competing to me.”
 
Coming from Moscow, Russia three years ago, Romanov has made a good life for himself here in New York. He is a lifeguard at the CSI Sports and Recreation Center and when he isn’t studying or in the pool, he is helping his peers. Romanov shares his positive attitude and knowledge volunteering as a peer tutor. “I know what it takes to achieve goals,” says Romanov,”And I want to help others reach that as well.”
 
On receiving this award; “To know I was chosen out of a large circle of academically knowledgeable and talented student-athletes is a great honor.”
 
This season Romanov has tallied 13 individual first place wins and 6 relay wins. “I want to swim in the Olympics,” Romanov states his goal,” I want to start training for the 2016 team.” If his determination stays true we’ll be hearing a lot more about Vlad Romanov.