Dave Eggen/Inertia Sports
Graduate student and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe native Cyprianos swims the backstroke for South Dakota State.
Olympian swimmer, Denilson Cyprianos, will be swimming in his final Summit League Swimming Championship Feb. 19-22 at the University of Iowa.
Cyprianos is currently No. 2 in the conference in the 200-yard backstroke, in which he previously competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, behind Denver swimmer Dylan Wright.
Cyprianos holds the SDSU Swimming Records in the 400-yard and 800-yard freestyle relays and the 200-yard backstroke on the men’s swimming team.
The Zimbabwe native holds his nation’s national record in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:01.91, set at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He also set the 50-meter and 100-meter backstroke, 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle relay and the 400-meter medley relay national records at the African Games last March of 2024.
The Collegian had the opportunity to sit down with Cyprianos before the Summer Olympics and he agreed to speak again before what could be his last meet as a Jackrabbit.
What was it like to go from the Olympics back to college swimming?
It is really fun and nice to get back into the environment of training with everyone. It gets challenging going to meets on my own.
What are you looking forward to the most with the end of the season approaching?
A little more time and getting over the hurdle of conference. I am excited to finish out my master’s degree in operations management in the next year and just enjoy the city of Brookings.
How are you feeling as you approach your final collegiate meet and what does it mean to you personally?
I am really blessed to be here and experience my last final meet my senior year. After some of the hurdles I have faced, it is nice to take a second and look back at how far I’ve come and give it one more big effort.
How do your national experiences at the World Championships and the Olympics influence your approach to college meets?
I would say it’s a little different just because the setup of the meets is so different. At Worlds, we will have a call room and all these other formal factors you follow before you get to the race, whereas college meets you just get to the block. I really enjoy that because I’m a little last minute sometimes and I like to just get to the block right before my race and I really enjoy that about college swimming.
Who has been your biggest influence during your collegiate career?
I would say my support system being my family, my fiancé, my swim team family collectively they have supported me through challenging times in my career. They have been there during the highest points and getting to share all of that with them as well has been the most special part of it all.
What has been the most significant lesson you have learned during your collegiate career?
To be thankful and to trust in yourself. Understand that these challenges can be overcome and everything you are experiencing is new at this developmental age. Give yourself some grace as you go through it and respect yourself and everything you stand for.
What is one piece of advice you want to leave for the next generation of the team?
Trust in the process and keep on working hard every day. Have fun and make memories as you go through it all. When I leave, I lose the control of being here every day but I hope the roots we have set as this class and many of the classes before us allows the team to keep growing in the right direction and one day be on top of the Summit League.
What are your swimming plans post-collegiate career? Training? Competing? Recreational?
For now, I am still deciding. I know that I will continue swimming the next couple months following conference to have one more shot at the World Championships and see how that goes before I decide whether to try for the next Olympic cycle.