By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
Hungarian swimmer Nikolett Padar, who verbally committed to Bob Bowman and Arizona State University in fall 2023, says that she hasn’t made any decisions yet about her plans for college swimming in light of Bowman’s departure for the University of Texas.
Padar told SwimSwam that while “of course I have been thinking about the situation,” she is focused on this year’s meets for now.
“I am also not in a rush to make a major decision like this since I would only start college in 2025 so most likely I will make a final decision after the Olympics.”
Padar, 18, won five gold medals at the 2022 World Junior Championships, including the 100 free, 200 free, and as a leg of the women’s 400 and 800 free relays and the mixed 400 free relay. She is also a member of two Hungarian Record relays in short course meters.
With long course bests of 54.41 in the 100 free and 1:56.17 in the 200 free, Padar would have an immediate impact on any NCAA team that she would join.
Padar is expected to represent Hungary at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
NCAA Champions Zalan Sarkany and Hubert Kos, both Hungarians like Padar, have entered the portal but have not formally announced their intent to compete for Texas next season.
Herbie Behm, most-often cited as the lead coach of Arizona State’s sprint program, was promoted to head coach at Arizona State. That, combined with Texas new structure that features Bowman as the director of the combined program and Carol Capitani continuing to lead the women’s team makes for a more-complex decision for Padar.
Other Athletes
Two days after leading the Arizona State men to their first-ever NCA title, Bowman was announced as the new head coach of the storied program at the University of Texas. While several of the stars of that team have already entered the NCAA Transfer Portal or announced that they are turning pro, future Sun Devils have been fairly-quiet on their plans.
Among the highest-profile of those swimmers are one of the best boys’ classes of 2024 in the country including Iowan Jacob Pins, Washingtonian Michael Hochwalt, Swissman Leon Verschooten, Chicagoan Brady Johnson, and Californian Quin Seider among others; and Austrian Luka Mladenovic in the class of 2025.
There is also the matter of World Record holder, three-time Olympic medalist, and 9-time World Championship medalist Regan Smith. Smith, who said she was done with college swimming after her freshman year at Stanford, entered the NCAA Transfer Portal in mid-March. Smith has been training under Bowman at Arizona State since 2022.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Nikolett Padar: “I am…not in a rush to make a decision” on NCAA Future