Florida All-American Ekaterina Nikonova Dislocates Kneecap Misses SECs and NCAAs

University of Florida junior Ekaterina Nikonova dislocated her kneecap two weeks before the SEC Championships and had to undergo surgery to repair her meniscus. She is not expected to return for the Gators this season.

Nikonova says that she tripped in the locker room one day when exhausted after practice causing the injury. “I had a pain shock, and I couldn’t feel anything, so I pushed it back to where it is supposed to be,” she said.

Later in the day she had an X-Ray and MRI, where she learen that she had a torn meniscus.

She said she’s already began rehabbing the knee and returned to swimming on Monday, with a full recovery expected to take 4 months.

The injury proves as a significant loss for the Gators, who swam on eight relays and won seven All-America honors for Florida in her two seasons in Gainesville.

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 makes 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.

Season and Lifetime Best

But more crucial would have been her relay contributions to a Florida team that, thanks to the additions of Bella Sims and Izzy Ivey, plus Micayla Cronk having a breakout year, have big relay ambitions this season. Even without racing at SECs, she is one of the team’s top four in all three races this year:

At the SEC Championships, the Gators still managed to win all three titles. Peoples subbed in to the 200 free relay, splitting 22.39; Kruger subbed in to the 400 free relay, splitting 48.43; and Emma Weyant subbed in to the 800 free relay, splitting 1:43.33.

Thanks to depth in that 800 free relay, the Gators, who set the SEC Record with a 6:49.65, are still the favorites for a top-2 finish at the NCAA Championships. While that was arguably Nikonova’s best event, there’s a chance she wouldn’t have been on that relay at NCAAs this season anyway thanks to the newcomers Sims and Ivey also specializing in that race.

Even without her, the Florida women are projected to score the third-most swimming points at the NCAA Championships (366.5) behind the three-time defending champions Virginia (469.5) and last year’s runners-up Texas (369.5). Gators freshman diver Camyla Monroy should add some points to that projection, though it looks like an uphill climb right now to catch the top two unless one of those teams falters in two weeks.

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.

This year, they are projected based on seed to score 154 relay points at NCAAs.

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.