Courtesy: Bryant Athletics
Hours after dropping 19 seconds from her season best (and 4 from her lifetime best) at the NEC Championships last week, Bryant University senior Nicole Salzano suffered a stroke. Salzano was rushed to the hospital, where she remains and is expected to remain for 4 weeks before “transfer to a rehab facility is even an option,” according to family members.
Her cousin has launched a GoFundMe page, which as of posting has raised $9,243 to help support her family as they deal with Salzano’s recovery and the associated costs.
Salzano was seeded 3rd heading into the final of the 500 free after her 4:59.84 in prelims, but after the seizure was unable to swim in the final. She is a two-year co-captain for Bryant. She finished 6th in the 500 free, 6th in the 100 back, and 5th in the 200 back at last year’s NEC Championship meet.
The Bryant women went on to win their first-ever NEC conference title on Saturday.
From the GoFundMe page:
Our cousin, Nicole Salzano, suffered a stroke on Thursday 2/22/18, just hours after competing in Day 2 prelims of the Northeast Conference Swimming Championships. Nicole amazingly dropped 19 seconds off her 500 Free event and jumped from 18th place into 3rd going into finals.
If you don’t know her, Nicole is 22 years old, healthy and smart. She is a senior set to graduate from Bryant University with a business degree after this semester, an athlete at the top of her game, and a 2 year co-captain of her college swim team. She is certainly not the type of person you would ever expect something like this to happen to.
Nicole is still in the ICU, and is expected to be in the hospital another 4 weeks before a transfer to rehab facility is even an option. She has had her family and friends at her bedside around the clock, cheering on her miraculous gains and supporting her through unfortunate setbacks. This tragic event has rattled our family, however we remain firmly optimistic in her recovery.
Nicole has a long road ahead of her, but she is a fighter. She is strong and is already showing her doctors, friends, and family just how determined she is.
Her parents, Jim and AnnMarie, as well as her sister, Nina have suddenly had to put their lives on hold. In this time of pain, hurt, and confusion, medical bills should be of the least concern. We are starting this GoFundMe page in an effort to ease the enormous financial burden from her parents’ shoulders.
We will try and keep this page updated with the most recent information, as possible.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Any little bit helps!
Sincerely,
Nicole’s cousins
– Jamie, Glenn, Lauren, Taylor, AJ, Amy, Kevin, Brendan, Samantha, Danielle, Matthew, Alyssa
i’ve known nicole since i was 8 years old and she is the hardest working person I know. Strokes can be caused by a number of factors, and the fact that it happened between sessions of a meet could have been a reason or could not have affected it at all. Regardless, she’s a kick-ass woman and is gonna fight this like she’s fought for everything she’s earned in life. And it’s pretty awesome swimswam is helping spread the word to raise funds for her medical bills. And I know for sure she’s damn proud of that 500 time.
C’mon swimswam, Why is the 19-sec drop in the article headline? How about just that a college swimmer suffered a terrible tragedy after a race?
It makes it seem like the time drop was a key factor in the medical event. Dropping 19 seconds from an in-season time in a distant event is hardly remarkable.
now that is going hard
We’re heartbroken to hear about Nicole. Sending prayers and warmest wishes to her and the entire Salzano family.
Wouldn’t NCAA insurance cover the full cost of hospitalization and rehab due to her being in-competition when the incident occurred?
I was thinking the same thing. She should be covered under NCAA health insurance. You even get coverage after you graduate if the injury is related to your time as an NCAA athlete.
It mentions it was hours after the race, so could have been back at the hotel by then. If they can show it was induced by swimming, then you should have a point. I’m not a legal expert my any means, but just a thought.
I am not a stroke expert, but it seems unlikely the stroke was induced by swimming. Especially because it was between sessions. And also that there isn’t really good evidence to show strokes can be induced by exercise
She could of been in AFIB and not really know it. AFIB causes strokes.
I know. Just saying it is extremely unlikely that her swim was the cause of this.
Very sad. Best of luck on full recovery Nicole. 4 weeks expected in hospital….must be a hemorrhagic stroke.
Why would you title the article something so ridiculous? The emphasis should clearly be on her stroke, not on the 19 second season best… would recommend renaming it “Bryant University Swimmer Suffers Stroke at NEC Championships” or something a little more tasteful.
my thoughts are that the article title intentionally makes a link between 1. pushing yourself really, really hard physically and 2. suffering a stroke. The implication is maybe that this is something that should be looked at in more detail by those in the know (sports scientists etc.)
Could not agree more – that was my first concern after first knowing she was safe & being cared for.
I think the point of the title is to show how truly amazing her swim was (19 seconds in one season is great for anyone) considering there was clearly something going amiss in her body. Im sure Nicole wants to be recognized for her amazing swimming accomplishment as well.
Nicole- all my thoughts and wishes for a speedy and smooth recovery. Everyone describes you as such a wonderful person and I hope you are feeling more like yourself very soon.
I hope she recovers and has all the support she needs. times and time drops don’t seem relevant in this scenario.