Villanova, Pa. – Swimming’s Kaisla Kollanus was one of five Villanova student-athletes who represented their respective countries at the 2015 World University Summer Games in Gwangju, South Korea this past July.
Kollanus, who is a native of Hyvinkaa, Finland, competed in the 50 and 100 butterfly events, along with the 50 meter breaststroke. Additionally, she had a spot on the women’s Finnish relay squad in all three relays.
Kollanus swam personal best times in all three of her individual events. In the 100 fly, Kollanus posted a time of 29.42 while posting a time of 0.58 in the 50 fly. The 50 meter breaststroke saw her post a time of 33.17.
In the 800 free relay, Finland missed the finals by one second. As a whole, Team Finland took home two bronze medals from the games in rhythmic gymnastics.
Having the chance to represent her home nation at the international level was a memory she will never forget.
“It was an honor to represent Finland at the games”, Kollanus said. “I am very grateful for the opportunity to represent my country, and for the chance to prepare for the games here at Villanova.”
As a country, Finland is relatively small population wise with only 5.4 million people as of 2014. It is the third most sparsely populated country in Europe after Iceland and Norway. Kollanus said she knew the other swimmers on the team, and a few athletes from other sports as well.
Overall, Kollanus considers herself fortunate to participate in such a prestigious event.
“The World University Games was a great experience, and I was lucky to get the chance to participate,” Kollanus said. “Meeting people from different cultures and making new friends helped to widen my world view. Also, it was cool to have the opportunity to watch other sports at a high level.”
Kollanus had an outstanding junior season at Villanova as she was named the 2015 BIG EAST Championship Women’s Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet. She was named to the 2015 All-BIG EAST team for her top-three finishes in seven events at the league championship. She won three events at the conference championship (50, 100 and 200 freestyle) and set a program record in the 100m.
Kollanus swam in a total of 55 events last season with 37 top-five finishes. She won a staggering 19 events on the year, and finished second seven times.
Kollanus hopes the lessons and experiences she learned over in South Korea will translate into successful senior season.
“Sharing experiences with other athletes gave me a lot of motivation to train better than ever,” Kollanus said. “I’m looking forward to the upcoming season, and I can’t wait to get back to business with my awesome team here at Villanova.”
The World University Games are the largest international sporting event outside of the Olympics.
It’s a biannual event that promotes the development of education, culture, friendship and sportsmanship through sport. Participants must be between the ages of 17 and 28, enrolled as undergraduate or graduate students, or have just graduated from their respective universities.
The 2017 Summer Games will be held in Taipei, Chinese Taipei.
Swimming news courtesy of Villanova Swimming & Diving.