Italian diver Elettra Neroni is in Gainesville and will begin competition for the Gators this month, the school has confirmed to SwimSwam.
The 18-year-old will join the Gators just a few weeks before conference and national championships, providing a boost to Florida’s point-scoring potential. Neroni represented Italy numerous times in 2021 internationally including at the European Championships, the European Junior Championships, and the World Junior Championships.
Neroni landed on the podium in December 2021 at World Juniors in the synchronized A/B 10m platform event. She and teammate Maia Bignielli took bronze in the event behind gold medalists Ekaterina Beliaeva and Anna Konanykhina of Russia and Tiffany Brawn and Mariana Osorio of Colombia.
Neroni and Bignelli won that World Juniors bronze medal a few months after taking silver in the same event at European Juniors in June 2021. They also competed for Italy at the European Championships in 2021, placing 6th overall in the synchronized 10m.
Neroni also placed 5th overall in the women’s 10m platform event at World Junior Championships and 8th in the 1m springboard at European Juniors.
Neroni will join freshman Carina Lumia, sophomore Caroline Pagac, and seniors Elizabeth Perez and Lauren Snider on Florida’s diving team this year. Last year Florida senior Ashley McCool won gold for Florida at the SEC Championships in the women’s 1 meter and took bronze in the 3 meter.
At the 2021 NCAA Championships, the Florida women did not have any finalists in diving but Ashley McCool finished 10th in the 1 meter and 13th in the 3 meter. Elizabeth Perez also represented Florida at NCAA’s last year, placing 29th in the 1 meter and 31st in the 3 meter.
Neroni is one of two major additions to Florida’s Swimming & Diving roster this semester, joining Russian freestyler Ekaterina Nikonova.
