Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club head coach Dean Henze has long lauded the work ethic of Nina Kucheran, easily the most accomplished athlete the SLSC has produced in the past quarter century or so.

Given that context, exactly how tough is the training regimen to which the 22 year old breaststroker would challenge herself in her final year of NCAA competition at the University of Florida this past winter?

“The program here is very physically demanding, probably the most physically demanding program that I have ever been in,” noted the graduate of Collège Notre-Dame. “You’re surrounded by world record holders, Olympic champions. Having a bad day isn’t really an option.”

“It keeps you honest and working.”

And while the end result might have been questioned in the mind of the northern girl in the first half of the 2022-2023 schedule, the nationals that would close the chapter on her post-secondary career south of the border gave her ample reason to smile.

Kucheran would establish new school records on both an individual level and as part of a Florida Gators relay team at the NCAA Championships in March, following that up with personal best times in both the 100m and 200m distances in her trademark event at the 2023 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials weeks later.

“I had a pretty good NCAA meet – and I had never really performed all that well at the NCAA’s before,” said Kucheran. “That gave me some confidence going into Trials. I knew there was a possibility I could swim really, really well, but with it being a new (training) program this year, I really tried not to put any expectations on it.”

With a year now remaining in her studies (pursuing a masters in Kinesiology) but with no collegiate eligibility remaining, Kucheran has decided to continue her competitive swimming career, hopefully taking full advantage of the fact that the pro swim team at the U of F trains right alongside the varsity athletes.

This latest step was hardly a given just six months or so ago.

“The first semester, I was adjusting to a lot. It was very physically and mentally demanding; I found myself getting sick a lot. They (Florida) don’t put a lot of emphasis on the fall semester. That’s when you are building up your aerobic base. We really didn’t taper for anything so in my mind, I was a little bit worried.”

“I wasn’t swimming as well as I had been at FSU (Florida State University).”

“I had to really trust the process, which is a lot harder than it sounds,” added Kucheran, more than a little thankful for the end product that was unleashed in the spring. “The concept wasn’t new to me, but this was just different in the sense that it was a lot more volume than I had ever done.”

“Despite being tired from the amount of work I was putting in, I was still expecting myself to go the same times. That was a mental adjustment where I had to trust that I was putting in the right amount of work in practice and that the coach had a plan – and that it was going to work.”

It definitely did.

“This is the most prepared I have felt going into the NCAA’s,” she said.

And when the Trials rolled around, Kucheran was once again setting new records, on a personal level, in spite of the fact that she had tapered for the third time in just over a month. Armed with that knowledge, she has targetted a hectic summer schedule.

“I have to give this new program a legit chance,” she said. “It’s about getting a good block of work in this summer and doing the little things right every single day. Having a group of people here who are shooting for the same things as me is a really good environment to be in.”

A year from now, who knows what the future will hold. Kucheran has long sworn by the mantra that you write your plan in pencil. “I would like to give myself a shot at being good for another year,” she said. “I think I owe it to myself. I still love the sport, which is the most important part – and I’m not quite ready to be done with it yet.”

Truth is, Nina Kucheran has never shied away from a highly demanding workout.

“I’ve never looked at swimming as something that I have to do; I’ve looked at it as something that I get to do,” she said. “I am really grateful for all of the opportunities that swimming has given me. I love the physical demands of it. I love the competitive aspect.”

“It’s not at all a burden for me to do it” – even in the most challenging program that she has ever seen.