Aurora Zanin Season 2025-26

Honors & Awards

• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2025*)
• NJCAA Female Swimmer of the Year (2025)
• Seven-Time NJCAA Champion (2025)
• NJCAA Champion (1,000 Free, 2025)
• NJCAA Champion (1,650 Free, 2025)
• NJCAA Champion (400 IM, 2025)
• NJCAA Champion (200 Fly, 2025)
• NJCAA Champion (400 Free Relay, 2025)
• NJCAA Champion (800 Free Relay, 2025)
• Six-Time NJCAA All-American (2025)
  *Indicates 4.0 Semester GPA

Sophomore (2025-26)
Aurora Zanin, the transfer from Indian River State College, made a significant impact on NU history in her inaugural season as a Husker. 

The seven-time NJCAA Champion improved times consistently throughout the season to power 15 top-five finishes, seven being first-place finishes in the 200 butterfly. Zanin powered a B final time of 1:56.43 at the Big Ten Championships for a near-school record time and ninth-place finish. 

Dropping times throughout the whole season in the 400 IM, Zanin swam her lifetime best of 4:13.79 on the second day of competition at the Big Ten Championships. Her 14th-place prelim time marks a drop of 7.60 seconds from her time in the final dual against Rutgers of 4:21.39. She went on to compete in the B finals at the championships, finishing 16th in 4:17.91. 

She added times in the 500 free, trimming them throughout the season. The Vittorio Veneto, Italy native swam a 5:10.79 (3rd) in the first meet of the season against South Dakota State and Omaha and completed the season with a career mark of 4:53.56 (33rd) in the Big Ten prelims.

 Before Nebraska
Aurora Zanin joins the Huskers after being named the NJCAA Female Swimmer of the Year by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America in 2025. Zanin earned the CSCAA honor after leading Indian River State College to the NJCAA championship by winning four individual gold medals and two more relay golds at the national meet in Buffalo, N.Y., in March. 

Zanin raced to gold in the 200 butterfly in an NJCAA-record time of 1:59.52. The sophomore-to-be from Vittorio Veneto, Italy added a sweep of the distance freestyle events with a win in the 1,000 (10:29.10) and the 1,650 free in a lifetime-best 17:24.73 at the NJCAA Championships. Zanin contributed her final individual title with a win in the 400 IM (4:24.09), before helping Indian River State College to relay golds in the 400 and 800 freestyle events. 

Indian River State (Fort Pierce, Fla.) won all 25 events on its way to winning its 43rd consecutive NJCAA women's swimming and diving championship.

Personal
The daughter of Luca Zanin and Laura Dianca Spinadin, Aurora was born Oct. 6, 2005. She has two younger sisters, Angelica and Andrea. Aurora is a psychology major at Nebraska and earned a spot on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in the fall of 2025. 

Career-Best Times

Event	Time	Meet (Date)
100 Free	51.89	FL RATS Memorial (2025)
200 Free	1:50.37	Hawkeye Invite (2025)
500 Free	4:53.56	Big Ten Championships (2026)
100 Fly	57.40	Big Ten Championships (2026)
200 Fly	1:56.53	Big Ten Championships (2026)
400 IM	4:13.79	Big Ten Championships (2026)