Anika Apostalon is an Czech-American competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle and backstroke events. She was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and graduated from Albuquerque Academy in 2013. Apostalon graduated from the University of Southern California in 2017 with a bachelor of arts in psychology and currently swims for the Trojan Swim Club under Dave Salo and is affiliated with USK in Prague, CZ. She is a 2016 Olympic Trials semi-finalist and a 17-time NCAA All American.
Career
International Swimming League
In fall of 2019 Apostalon signed for DC Trident in the ISL's inaugural season. In spring 2020, Apostalon signed for the newly formed Toronto Titans, the first Canadian based ISL team.
Collegiate Career
Apostalon began her collegiate career at San Diego State University, where she was a Division I dual-sport athlete in water polo and swimming. In 2014 she was named the Mountain West Swimmer of the Year and the conference's Freshman of the year. She also set the Mountain West records for 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, and 100-yard backstroke while at SDSU. In 2015, Apostalon transferred to the University of Southern California to focus on her swimming career. In 2016 she led the Trojans to a Pac-12 Championship. She was a member of the 2016 400 yard freestyle NCAA national championship relay. Apostalon finished her college career as a 17-time NCAA All-American and eight-time individual scorer at the NCAA national championships. However, her successes have not been limited to swimming. As a senior, Apostalon made the CoSIDA Academic All-American Division I At-Large Team and was named the Pac-12 Women's Swimming Scholar Athlete of the Year. She was also named the Trojans' female recipient of the 2016-17 Tom Hansen Medal.
Apostalon first competed in the United States Olympic Trials in 2012, when she turned in a 66th place finish in the 100 backstroke. She returned to the Olympic Trials in 2016, and turned in a 12th place performance in the 50 yard freestyle and 24th place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
Professional Career
In July, 2018, Apostalon qualified for the Czech Republic national team and set a national record in the 100-meter freestyle. She went on to represent the Czech Republic in the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. She finished 12th in the 50m Freestyle and 11th in the 100m Freestyle. Apostalon currently holds the Czech national record in the 50m Freestyle.
