University of Georgia junior swimmer Jackson Bates and sophomore swimmer Elizabeth Isakson were named to the 2024 Southeastern Conference Community Service Team, as announced by the conference Tuesday morning.
The SEC Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts. This is the first career placement on the team for both student-athletes.
Bates, an Athens native, has participated in numerous community service projects during his time at the University of Georgia. The junior breaststroker currently serves as a team representative to the UGA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has collaborated with local elementary schools to introduce the sport of swimming and the Bulldogs’ swim team. In January, Bates participated in MLK Day of Service by cleaning up a local conservation land area. He has also volunteered with the Athens Homeless Shelter to provide meals for residents, helped “stuff the truck” with the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, and assisted with the organization of the annual Special Olympics Prom.
As the team’s designated Community Service Tracker, Bates gathered teammates to assist at the 2023 Clarke County Halloween Mentoring Event, as well as assembling furniture and cleaning the store for Athens Habitat for Humanity. He has served as a SAAC team representative for the past two seasons. Bates volunteered as a coach at the Jack Bauerle Bulldog Swim Camps in each of the past two summers. He was named to the 2023 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team for Swimming & Diving.
Only in her second year in Athens, Isakson has engaged in numerous community service projects through her work as a team representative to the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In December 2023, the Marietta native organized a group of teammates to deliver Christmas letters to senior citizens living at the Presbyterian Village retirement community in Athens. For MLK Day of Service in both 2023 and 2024, she represented the women’s swimming and diving team in community service projects, including cleaning up the Stonehenge neighborhood last month. She shopped for the Boys & Girls Club for Christmas 2022 and helped organize the 2022 Special Olympics prom, along with packing blessing bags for the United Way and volunteering with Books for Keeps helping local school children have access to books.
Along with her community service projects, Isakson served as a volunteer coach at the Jack Bauerle Bulldog Swim Camp in summer 2023. The sophomore breaststroker volunteers in her spare time with the UGA Sports Communications office to help with media relations at various sporting events. Isakson also serves as a small group leader/teacher for second graders at Athens Church.
