Finnish national and Florida State freshman All-American Ida Hulkko will not be returning to the Seminole roster after taking last season as an Olympic gap year.
Hulkko finished 5th at NCAAs in the 100 breaststroke as a freshman in 2019. She sat out the 2019-2020 season to prepare for the Olympics, hoping to represent her home nation of Finland. But FSU says Hulkko will not be returning to the program this year.
Hulkko’s Instagram bio lists her as a “professional swimmer,” though FSU hasn’t clarified if Hulkko has officially turned pro and given up her future college eligibility.
Fortunately for the Seminoles, they still have a solid breaststroker on the roster: rising junior Nina Kucheran, who has been as fast as 59.61 and 2:08.78 in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. Kucheran missed scoring at NCAAs as a freshman, but as a sophomore, she won B finals of the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the ACC Championships.
FSU returns three individual NCAA qualifiers from 2020: Kucheran, rising junior Aryanna Fernandes and rising sophomore Sydney Vanovermeiren.
As for Hulkko, it appears she’ll continue to chase an Olympic bid for Finland, now that the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed to 2021. Hulkko hit a lifetime-best 1:07.42 in the 100 breast last fall on the World Cup. She also broke 1:08 twice in 2020 during her original gap year.
