Two students from The Frazer School in Gainesville have earned invitations to two separate U.S. Olympiad camps this summer.
Ajay Sawant has qualified for the 2026 U.S. Biology Olympiad (USABO) National Finals camp, which will be held on June 21-July 2 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
According to a Frazer School press release, the USABO “is the most prestigious individual biology competition for American high schoolers.” More than 10,000 biology students take the open exam, with roughly 450 continuing to the semifinals.
Sawant passed the semifinal stage, becoming one of just 20 finalists nationwide – and the only student from Florida – to qualify for the USABO National Finals, the release said.
“I am immensely proud of Ajay for this [accomplishment],” Frazer School coach David Buffkin said in the release. “He devotes crazy amounts of time to improving himself and it clearly paid off. Not just for him: our bio presence has never been stronger in our team competitions as a result. It’s hard to explain how impressive making USABO camp is.”
Based on the students’ results, four of the finalists will be chosen to represent the U.S. at the International Biology Olympiad on July 11-19 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Another Frazer School student, Eric Li, has qualified for the 2026 U.S. Earth Science Olympiad (USESO) Training Camp that will be held on June 13-21 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The release stated that USESO is like USABO, except that it deals with geological sciences. Only 40 students nationally qualify for the USESO Training Camp.
According to the release, the list of 40 qualifying students has yet to be made public. Last year, no students from Florida qualified for the camp.
“One camper is already impressive. Two campers in one year – I’m smiling just thinking about it,” Buffkin said. “Congratulations, Eric, on this wonderful achievement. Here’s hoping for team!”
Principal Olanrewaju Fayiga said the future looks bright for both Sawant and Li.
“Outside of making the United States Olympiad teams, this is the highest honor a student in their field can achieve,” Fayiga said in the release. “Both of these students are relatively young, with Ajay currently in 10th grade and Eric currently in ninth grade. Their future looks very bright. I am so proud of these fine young men.”