NCAA Qualifier Jasmine Nocentini has found her home for her final season of NCAA eligibility: the University of Virginia.
Nocentini ended her senior season at Northwestern early with a shoulder injury at a point when she was the top-ranked swimmer in the Big Ten in the 50 free and 100 breaststroke. Even without swimming at Big Tens or NCAAs, she finished the season ranked 10th in the country in the 100 breaststroke and 11th in the 50 free.
She will have one year of eligibility remaining for Virginia, the COVID-19 5th year.
The 2022-2023 season was Nocentini’s first at Northwestern after spending her freshman and sophomore years at Florida International. In 2022, she was 3rd at Big Ten’s in the 50 free, 4th in the 200 free, and 5th in the 100 free.
Nocentini is from Padova, Italy, and last fall at a meet in Canada she hit qualifying times for the Short Course World Championships. Her last meet, though, was the Purdue Invitational in November, which was prior to Short Course Worlds.
Nocentini was by far the biggest chip available in the women’s NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason, and if the three-time defending NCAA Champions from Virginia had a weakness, Nocentini fills it.
Alex Walsh comes back as a very good option on the breaststrokes. She split 26.30 on the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay and 56.79 on the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay at the NCAA Championships. Nocentini split 25.79 on the breaststroke leg of Northwestern’s 200 medley relay at the Purdue Invite.
But Walsh is supremely versatile, and with 8-time individual NCAA Champion Kate Douglass opting against using her COVID 5th year, Nocentini’s presence gives Virginia coaches some options about how to best use her four relay swims next season.
The Cavaliers also return Emma Weber, who as a freshman last season was 8th at NCAAs in the 100 breaststroke in 58.95.
Nocentini’s Best Times in Yards:
- 50 free – 21.59
- 100 free – 47.76
- 200 free – 1:45.42
- 100 breast – 58.31
- 100 back – 53.61
Nocentini also has a chance to contribute in the sprint free relays, especially the 200 free relay.
The Cavaliers have scored big in the NCAA Transfer Portal this spring on the men’s side, but haven’t done as much on the women’s side. Last year, they brought in a transfer in Maxime Parker from Georgia, and she scored 23.5 points individually and swam on two NCAA Championship winning relays in her first year in Virginia.
Parker’s split at NCAAs on that 200 free relay was 21.58. With the graduation of Douglass and Lexi Cuomo, that leaves lots of opportunities for Nocentini to contribute there.
Nocentini’s best time in the 100 breast in long course is a 1:13.57 from 2018.
