University of Florida All-American Ekaterina Nikonova has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Nikonova, who is in her third season of eligibility for the Gators, underwent surgery earlier this year to repair a torn meniscus suffered after tripping in the locker room.
Nikonova, who last raced in the team’s January 26 dual meet against Florida State, is a rangy freestyler from 50 through 200 yards, which is what made her so valuable for the Gators. Last season, Nikonova swam season-best times at the SEC Championships and then bettered them again at the NCAA Championships. This year, her time in the 200 free from mid-season (1:44.32) would have earned her an individual invites to the NCAA Championships.
Nikonova’s Lifetime Bests (SCY/LCM):
- 50 yard free – 22.07 (2023)
- 50 meter free – 24.48 (2020)
- 100 yard free – 47.86 (2023)
- 100 meter free – 54.67 (2023)
- 200 yard free – 1:43.83 (2023)
- 200 meter free – 1:59.83 (2021)
She hasn’t made much long course progression in the last few years – though she did drop .21 seconds off her best time in the 100 free last summer after stalling out for two-and-a-half years. With Russia not having a lot of international competitions to compete at right now, though, the long course times may not be as significant.
Last season, Florida finished 9th at the NCAA Championships. They scored 96 relay points, which was 7th-most among participating teams. That included First Team All-America Honors in the 200 free relay (7th), 400 free relay (8th), 800 free relay (6th), and 400 medley relay (7th), all of which Nikonova was a part of. They were disqualified in the 200 medley relay, which Nikonova was not a part of.
While Florida is deeper this season in the freestyles than they were a year ago, the graduation of 5th year transfer Isabel Ivey after this season will again leave them a hole to fill – though they do have some good recruits coming in next fall (Addison Reese, Sofia Plaza, Julie Brousseau).
Nikonova, 20, is a native of Novosibirsk in southern Russia. She represented her country internationally at the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships and the 2021 World Short Course Swimming Championships.
She is already back in the water rehabbing her injured knee and a full recovery is expected to take 4 months.
I know one school a little bit up the road that is known for its freestyle success…woof woof…Athens is calling.
She would be a good mentor to incoming freshman sprinter Katie Bell Sikes.
Future Royal? 💪🏼🦁🥇
Definitely a priority for her will be a school that has locker room floors with good grip
One year of eligibility and starting over academically as a senior is tough since many courses don’t transfer… going pro?
Maybe she could get 1 year back and have 2 years somewhere. Maybe she can some school might be willing to give her credit for her upper-level classes, so she does not have to redo them all?
Unfortunate. University of Freestyle seems like the best place for her to develop. I guess if her goal is international success, and she hasn’t seen the type of development LC as she would have hoped, then the transfer is a no-brainer.