Nicole Haislett

Early years

Haislett, born in 1972 in St. Petersburg, Florida, first got into water at 18 months old. She joined the St. Pete Aquatics Club when she turned six. At 16, while still a high school junior, she swept the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter races at the 1989 U.S. Open Swimming Championships.

College swimming career

Haislett swam for the Florida Gators from 1991 to 1994 on an athletic scholarship. She won NCAA national titles in the 200-yard freestyle four consecutive years, the 200-yard individual medley in 1993, and the 500-yard freestyle in 1994. She was also on NCAA-winning relay teams in the 4×100-yard freestyle in 1993 and the 4×100-yard medley relay in 1994.

She received twenty-eight All-American honors and was undefeated in SEC competition. She was SEC Female Swimmer of the Year from 1991 to 1994 and SEC Female Athlete of the Year in 1993 and 1994. She received the 1993–94 Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving.

International swimming career

Haislett was the first American woman to defeat an East German in the 100-meter freestyle since 1972, doing so at the 1990 Goodwill Games. At the 1991 World Aquatics Championships, she won the 100-meter freestyle and anchored winning U.S. relay teams in the 4×100-meter freestyle and 4×100-meter medley, ending East German dominance in the 100-meter freestyle at world championships. She also disqualified her team on an early exchange in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, a race the American women won in the water.

At the 1992 Olympics, she finished fourth in the 100-meter freestyle, then won gold in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:57.90. She earned a second gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, setting a world record of 3:39.46 with Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Angel Martino.

She swam the freestyle leg in the preliminaries of the 4×100-meter medley relay for a third gold. She was the first American woman to swim the 200-meter freestyle under 1:58 and held the American record until 2003. She retired in 1995, citing waning motivation.

Life after competition swimming

Haislett graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications in 1996. She served as an assistant coach for the Florida Gators women's swim team from 1996 to 1997.

She later studied to be a chef at the Florida Culinary Institute and worked as a dining room manager and activities director at an assisted living community. She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. She has a daughter, Blake, born in 2006.