A thrill and an honor: Two FIU swimmers compete for their nations at Olympics
While the Summer Olympics happen every four years, two FIU swimmers came across a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity.
Oumy Diop and Nicole Frank, both juniors, represented their countries in the Paris Games. It was the first time that the FIU program sent two swimmers to the Summer Olympics.
Diop represented Senegal in the 100-meter butterfly. She was born in Grenoble, France, but her family is native to Senegal.
“Each year, I go to Senegal for holy days,” Diop said. “My family is there, my grandma is there and that’s where my connection is.”
For Diop, the chance to swim for Senegal was a privilege and responsibility she was ready to take.
“It’s such an honor to represent my home country. I’m so proud of this achievement,” Diop said. “We all know the Olympics is the biggest competition in the world, so I’m very proud of it.”
She said before competing on the international stage that she would try to avoid being too anxious.
“I’m just going to try to do my best and not put any pressure on myself,” she said. “Enjoy the moment. It’s not every day that the Olympics happen.”
Diop’s path to the
Games was not without struggle. She started her season dealing with injuries and catching up with her studies. She credited the staff of the FIU swimming and diving team with supporting her.
“An Olympic year is always a tough year,” Diop said. “I started the season with some injuries, but we have a whole staff behind us that helped me get through it. I had a bunch of competitions where I was outside of the country, and it was hard to catch up on the school that I had to miss. All of my staff helped me with that, and I’m really thankful for it.”
“I’ve been at FIU for a year and a half now, and I’ve grown so much, both as a swimmer and as a person. FIU helped me a lot.”
Diop competed July 27 in Paris. After participating in Heat 1, she placed fourth in her group with a time of 1:01.82.
She finished 27th among 32 competitors and had the second-best mark among participants from Africa. Only the top 16 swimmers qualified for the semifinal round of the event.
Frank was making her second Olympic appearance, representing her home country of Uruguay. Born in Montevideo, she spent her entire life in Uruguay until 2019, when she left for the United States to train in a developmental program.
“Representing my country makes me feel really, really proud,” Frank said. “It just makes me really happy, because I know I’m not only representing myself, but I’m representing my teammates, coaches and every citizen from my country who is watching and supporting.”
Beyond representing her country, Frank also represented her family and honored the memory of her grandmother, Angelika Rädche.
At 14, Rädche qualified to swim for Germany in the 400- and 800-meter freestyle events in the 1940 Summer Olympics. Those games were originally scheduled for Tokyo City, Japan, and then moved to Helsinki, Finland, before being canceled because of World War II.
“I know the story and how important this is and how proud she would be if she knew where I’m standing right now and the things that I’ve achieved so far,” Frank said.
In addition to Rädche, Frank honored her other grandmother, who died in 2022.
“It’s really motivating for me to be able to carry on with that legacy and be able to live this dream for her, even though she’s not here with us anymore,” Frank said. “I know she’s looking from above, and the same thing with my other grandma.”
In her debut during the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021, Frank finished with a time of 2:18.93 in the 200-meter freestyle and placed 27th.
In Paris, Frank swam the 200-meter individual medley Friday. She finished in a time of 2:18:00 in Heat 2 for 27th place.
Having already competed in the Olympics, the magnitude of the moment wasn’t lost on Frank. She enjoyed representing FIU alongside one of her closest friends on the swim team.
Diop also relished the chance to compete with Frank, as the two have a close bond.
“I’m excited to get to swim in the Olympics with my bestie. Niky is one of my closest friends at FIU. I’m looking forward to having this amazing experience with her and being able to represent FIU there,” Diop said.
Frank, like Diop, also thanked FIU for its support.
“We feel a lot of support from athletics and the school since we qualified, and I think that’s amazing,” Frank said. “I feel like we matter to the school and to athletics, and I think that’s one of the best things to receive.
“It’s not like we didn’t know before that we mattered; it’s just the fact that they’re there to support us and wish us the best and be proud of what we’re doing, not only because we’re from the school, but because we’re good people.”
Both swimmers accomplished something much bigger than a gold medal.
For Diop, it was her first Olympics, representing her country and continent as one of its best swimmers. For Frank, it was the chance to honor the dreams and memories of her two grandmothers once more.
These two are just getting started.