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European Junior Championships finalist Thea Bergstroem has committed to swim for Florida State University beginning in the fall of 2027. She publicized the news on Instagram, writing:
I am so excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at Florida State University! A big thanks to my coaches and my parents for supporting me and making all of this possible. I would also like to thank Coach Neal and the rest of the FSU staff for giving me this opportunity! GO NOLES!!
Bergstroem hails from Stockholm, Sweden, where she spent most of her career training with Solna Sundbyberg SS 04, but made a cross-country move to swim with Helsingborgs Simsällskap this past August. A sprint freestyle specialist, Bergstroem owns best times of 25.54/56.04/2:04.71 in the short course meter 50/100/200 free, with long course bests of 26.29/57.25/2:07.10.
Over the past 12 months, Bergstroem has been on a tear, with her biggest improvements coming in the 200 LCM free, where she dropped six tenths off 2:13.08, and the 100 LCM free and 200 SCM free, where she dropped about seven tenths, going from 57.91 and 2:05.80. She also saw progress in the 50 free, going from 25.75 in SCM and 26.76 LCM. Her short course 100 free the only event without a new best in that span, though she has broken 57 once since her 56.04 in November 2024, going 56.52 in September.
Her best meet of the past year was the Stockholm Open last April, where she placed 18th in the 100 free and 20th in the 50 free with her current long course bests, along with a then-personal-best 2:07.53 for 22nd in the 200 free.
A two-time qualifier for European Juniors, Bergstroem placed 34th in the 50 free (26.55), 45th in the 100 free (57.45), 48th in the 200 free (2:07.67), and 59th in the 50 fly (28.93) at the 2025 iteration of the meet. She also helped Sweden reach the final of the 400 free relay, anchoring with a 56.62 split as the team finished eighth. It was her best performance at the meet to date, improving on her 49th-place 50 fly (29.04), 55th-place 50 free (26.94), and 56th-place 100 free (58.20) from 2024.
Bergstroem has also shown the ability to swim fast year-round, with her personal bests across the 50, 100, and 200 in both short course and long course set at five separate in-season meets over the past 12 months, a trait that bodes well for the collegiate landscape.
Best Times
| Event | LCM | SCM | Fastest SCY Conversion |
| 50 Free | 26.29 | 25.54 | 22.96 |
| 100 Free | 57.25 | 56.04 | 50.13 |
| 200 Free | 2:07.10 | 2:04.71 | 1:51.62 |
A Division I program competing in the ACC against powerhouses like UVA, Stanford, and NC State, Florida State placed 10th out of 15 teams at the 2026 conference meet. Based on this season’s results, it took times of 22.56, 48.91, and 1:46.88 to earn second swims, putting Bergstroem’s fastest converted times outside the cutoffs.
With the 2026 and 2027 recruiting classes not yet finalized, two years of graduations and potential transfers still ahead, and Bergstroem herself still 18 months away from arriving in Tallahassee with plenty of time to improve, it’s too early to project where she’ll fit into the roster. She will, however, overlap a season with the team’s top sprinter, current freshmen Maryn McDade (22.23/49.04) and Ioana Stirbu (49.03/1:44.97), as well as a season with Mary Leigh Hardman (23.07/49.51) and two seasons with Antonina Biegaljo (22.87/50.94), giving her strong training partners as she transitions to short course yards.
Bergstroem joins Leah Chin, who owns bests of 22.92/51.10 in the sprint freestyles, and Aidyn Reese, who owns bests of 23.49/50.97 in the sprint freestyles as well as 1:03.42/2:15.83 in the breaststrokes, as the only publicized recruits in the Seminoles’ class of 2031.
Bergstroem will have a compatriot in the pool when she arrives, with fellow Swede and middle-distance freestyler Ted Nilsson joining the roster this August.
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