Q&A With FSU Commit, Sprinter Nika Blank

Photo Courtesy: Nika Blank

By Julia Cunningham, Swimming World College Intern

2015 has been a huge year for Nika Blank. In February, she won the 50 yard freestyle at the Easterns Championships by .27 seconds. In May, at the Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series, she made her debut as a first-time Olympic trials qualifier in the same event with a 26.16. In August, she lowered that time by .33 seconds to 25.83 at Junior Nationals and started dominating record boards across New Jersey. Then, just two weeks ago, she verbally announced her commitment to the Florida State University (Class of 2020).

Currently a senior at Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, Blank has been, and continues to be, an invaluable part of the athletic and academic culture. She is captain of the swim team, a MAPL All-Academic Team member, holder of five Peddie records (15-18 and Senior 50 LCM freestyle and 200 LCM freestyle relay, and 15-18 100 LCM freestyle) and owner of two New Jersey State records (15-18 and Senior 50 LCM freestyle). At 16, Blank already has a considerable impact on the swimming world. With this forward momentum, there’s no telling what her future at FSU may bring. We discussed her views on the past few months, as well as what lies ahead.

Photo Courtesy: Nika Blank

JC: When would you say you really started thinking about trials and going for a trials cut?

NB: After my first Juniors, two summers ago, the trials cuts came out and I remember looking at them and saying to myself “Hey, I can do that.” Since then it became a goal for the season and really pushed me through all the practices.

JC: Take me through your reaction when you realized you had made the trials cut so early in the summer?

NB: Well, I was swimming in the D final at the Charlotte Pro Series and going into that finals race after a best time in prelims. I was not really expecting to make the cut, I was just trying to see how close I could get at the first meet of the season. Once I touched and saw the clock it took me a moment to register that I made it and obviously hopped out of the pool ran over to Laura Morley (a Peddie teammate currently at the University of Indiana) and freaked out. It was nice making the cut early because afterwards I was able to focus on training through the rest of the summer towards my goal of A- finaling at Juniors without having to rest for meets in between trying to make that cut.

JC: How have you been training this season? Anything different to prepare for trials?

NB: This season’s training has mostly been the same with a big emphasis on lifting hard/developing strength along with working on starts to nail that front half of the 50.

JC: What was the recruiting process like for you? What other schools besides FSU did you look at?

NB: Well, I started emailing some coaches last spring and by July 1, my list was down to about six schools, which I got calls from within the first few days of July. I looked at a wide range of schools- small, big, private, state schools, schools in the north and south- because I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of school I wanted. At first my list was six or seven schools, but by September I was down to three.

JC: What made you choose FSU?

NB: Once I got there on my recruiting trip it just felt like the perfect fit for me– the team, the coaches and the school in general was exactly what I was looking for.

Photo Courtesy: Peddie School

JC: Have you changed anything about training, or do you think you’ll change anything later, to prepare for next year in college?

NB: Since it’s the beginning of the season I’ve been doing less power/speed training for the 50 and more general endurance/capacity training, but as I near trials, I’ll definitely be phasing more into speed and power work to get that explosive speed.

JC: You were grappling with the idea of trying to go to an academically challenging school or a school that would really help you improve your swimming. Do you think you ended up making that trade-off?

NB: Ultimately, I wanted a school that I’d be happy at regardless of the mix of swimming/academic rigor it had, and I definitely think I got that without making a huge trade-off at FSU.

JC: How do you think swimming DI is going to be different from Peddie?

NB: I think it’s definitely going to be more intense, not so much practice-wise as much as the environment of training and athletics as a whole. It’s intense, but I’m really excited for the opportunity.

JC: How does it feel to watch newly graduated teammates at DI schools posting things about college and swimming? Is it different now that you’re a year away from all that?

NB: It excites me to see how much fun they’re having because I know that’s going to be me next year. It also scares me a bit that I’m going to be graduating and leaving this part of my life behind. But onto bigger and better things.

JC: How excited are you for next year?

NB: I am super excited for next year, but I’m also really excited for finishing my last year with Peddie strong!

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