Nicolas, professional swimmer, Olympian, and USA campus student

Hello, my name is Nicolas d'Oriano, I am in the fourth year BBA in Raleigh in Corporate Finance specialisation, I am 24 years old and I am a top athlete in swimming.

I started at the age of three in the Six-Fours club in the Var, so it’s been 21 years that I've been doing this, I started competing at the age of 7/8. Later, I went to Toulouse to take a sports-study course and won my first Olympic qualification. Then, I returned closer to home, to Marseille, where I joined the circle of swimmers of Marseille which is reputed to be in the top of the country’s training centres. So I arrived in 2018 in Antibes, near SKEMA, and I started my BBA.  

Today I train for about 25 hours in swimming on the campus of Raleigh, not to mention the strength training and bodywork that we have to do during the week. By comparison, I trained for 30 hours in France and I sometimes had no rest days during the week. My swimming skills are long swims: 400m and 800m freestyle (crawl).

My first Olympics were great. I was able to prepare well during the season and I was lucky enough not to have been injured throughout my preparation. In the beginning, everything went well, I participated in the first swim. And a day later, I hurt myself and the adventure ended for me. Nevertheless, I have great memories of it. 

I started out as a French youth champion in 2013 when I joined the French junior team. Then I finished in first place at the French championships in 2015 in the senior category. Then I returned to the European and World Tour with a participation in the 2016 Olympics and with the title of double European Junior Champion. I did not participate in the 2021 Olympics because I was hurt a lot and I got sick many times. It was a very hard time for me both physically and morally.  Today I am back in force for the future stages!

 

I left for Raleigh after a counter-performance, I would say. I wanted to change my tune and be able to see something other than the French pools. So I left for my last BBA year at the Raleigh campus and I like it there! The NC State Swim Club is the second-best in the world because, at the last world championships, swimmers brought home 14 medals. I train a little less than in France but I have more time to attend classes. I am very lucky to be able to train alongside Olympic swimmers on the U.S. National Team.

I have not adjusted the length of my course as some do. When I came to SKEMA, I was coming back from two years of dropping out of school because I was really into swimming. SKEMA helped me to get back in the saddle by allowing me to take three courses in the first semester, then four in the next, and then move to a normal year in the end. To catch up on my subjects, I followed the summer sessions. However, I have arranged my schedule to allow me to take as many courses as possible. This could give me real flexibility in my time management. I sometimes leave during the session to go and train. I catch up on my own because I have access to the content and the subject books. Regarding the exams, I try to follow them to the maximum but I sometimes pass them during my competitions. I have also had to use the catch-up sessions to catch up with a midterm or a final. I had a lot of help from Nathalie Sanchez and Florence Marchio, who both went out of their way to best fit my curriculum.

Sportingly, I am preparing for the 2024 Olympics, my goal is to return to the French team. There are also the European Championships this summer, the Mediterranean games in Oran in May, the world championships in 2023, and the French university championship. 

Professionally, I would like to first graduate with my BBA and specialise in market finance. I would like to reduce my swimming practice after the 2024 Olympics so that I can flourish in the world of finance.