59-Second Breaststroker Andrea Podmanikova is Transferring from SMU to NC State

Slovakian breaststroker Andrea Podmanikova has announced that she will transfer from SMU to NC State. Podmanikova is a 3-time conference champion individually at SMU and is the American Athletic Conference record holder in the 200 breaststroke. She will join the Wolfpack in the fall of 2020.

Podmanikova hasn’t raced this season, and should have 2 seasons of eligibility remaining for NC State when she arrives.

Best Times in Yards/Long Course Meters:

• 50 free – 23.12/26.88
• 100 breast – 59.68/1:09.06
• 200 breast – 2:08.66/2:28.98
• 200 IM – 1:58.57/2:20.21

For NC State, this is a case of the rich getting richer. Sophomore Sophie Hansson, who joins the team from Sweden, was 3rd in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke at last year’s NCAA Championship meet. In both races, the two swimmers who beat her at NCAAs have both graduated.

Podmanikova finished 36th in the 100 breaststroke and 28th in the 200 breaststroke at last year’s NCAA Championship meet. In both cases, she added time from her seed. In the 100, her season-best time would have placed her 17th, while in the 200, her best time would have put her into the scoring B final.

Podmanikova is the two-time defending AAC Champion in the 200 breaststroke and the defending champion in the 100 breaststroke. In 2 seasons, she amassed 6 all-conference honors and leaves the school ranked #1 in program history in the 200 breast, #3 in the 100 breast, and #4 in the 200 IM. She also earned a number of academic honors, including CSCAA Scholar All-America in 2019 and AAC All-Academic Team in 2019.

Podmanikova, who scored 55 points at last year’s conference meet individually, is the second huge loss for the SMU women this season to transfer. Felicity Passon, who was 3rd in the AAC in the 100 fly, 2nd in the 100 back, 4th in the 100 free, and was on 4 SMU relays, is also in the transfer portal. SMU finished 3rd as a team at last year’s AAC Championships – 317 points behind the University of Houston.

Podmanikova has represented her native country internationally on multiple occasions. That includes most recently at the 2019 European SC Swimming Championships, where she placed 11th in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.65) and 10th in the 200 breaststroke (2:23.10).