Nika Godun (born 4 March 1997) is a Russian competitive swimmer. She is a Russian record holder in the short course 4×50 metre medley relay and the 4×100 metre medley relay. She competed at the 2019 and 2021 European Short Course Championships, medaling in the 4×50 metre medley relay and 50 metre breaststroke. At the 2021 World Short Course Championships she placed fifth in the 50 metre breaststroke and the 4×100 metre medley relay, and sixth in the 100 metre breaststroke and the 4×50 metre medley relay.
Background Godun was born 4 March 1997 in Moscow, Russia."Nika Godun: Results". FINA. Retrieved 9 February 2022."Swimming: Nika Godun". Eurosport. Retrieved 9 February 2022. She competes for Moscow in Russian competitions.
Career 2012–2016 At the 2012 European Junior Swimming Championships, held in Antwerp, Belgium in July 2012, Godun won a gold medal as part of the 4×100 metre medley relay for her efforts swimming the breaststroke leg of the relay in the prelims heats.
In September 2016, at the 2016 Swimming World Cup stop in Moscow, Godun started competition on the first of two days with the prelims heats of the 100 metre breaststroke, where she placed 11th overall with a time of 1:11.05.FINA (3 September 2016). "FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2016 Moscow: Women's 100m Breaststroke Preliminary Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022. Later the same morning, she placed 11th in the 50 metre backstroke with a time of 28.99 seconds in the prelims heats.FINA (3 September 2016). "FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2016 Moscow: Women's 50m Backstroke Preliminary Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022. In the evening, Godun swam the butterfly leg of the 4×50 metre medley relay to help achieve a fifth-place finish in 1:45.77, splitting a 27.62.FINA (3 September 2016). "FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2016 Moscow: Mixed 4x50m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022. The following day, she swam a 32.27 in the prelims heats of the 50 metre breaststroke to place 11th overall.FINA (4 September 2016). "FINA/airweave Swimming World Cup 2016 Moscow: Women's 50m Breaststroke Preliminary Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
2019 For the 2019 World University Games in Naples, Italy at Piscina Felice Scandone in July, Godun placed 13th in the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:08.90 in the semifinals.Ross, Andy (5 July 2019). "2019 World University Games: Grigory Tarasevich, Tayla Lovemore Score Upset Wins in Swimming Action". Swimming World. Retrieved 9 February 2022. She also placed tenth with a time of 31.60 seconds in the semifinals of the 50 metre breaststroke.FISU (July 10, 2019). "Napoli 2019 30th Summer Universiade: Swimming Results Book". Microplus Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
2019 European Short Course Championships
On the first day of competition at the 2019 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in December 2019, Godun tied Mona McSharry of Ireland for ninth rank in the prelims heats of the 50 metre breaststroke with a time of 30.51 seconds.LEN (4 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 50m Breaststroke Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022. For the semifinals in the afternoon of the same day, Godun swam a 30.57 and tied Tatiana Chișca of Moldova for 12th-place overall.LEN (4 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 50m Breaststroke Semi-Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022. Day three of competition, Godun ranked fourth in the prelims heats of the 100 metre breaststroke with a 1:05.41 and qualified for the semifinals later in the day.LEN (6 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 100m Breaststroke Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022. In the semifinals, she qualified for the final with a time of 1:05.20 that ranked her fifth overall in the semifinals.LEN (6 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 100m Breaststroke Semi-Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022. The following day, Godun placed seventh in the final of the 100 metre breaststroke with a time of 1:05.40.LEN (7 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 100m Breaststroke Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022. On the fifth and final day of competition, Godun helped advance the 4×50 metre medley relay to the final ranking first in the prelims heats with a 1:45.81, splitting a 30.26 for the breaststroke leg of the relay.LEN (8 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 4x50m Medley Preliminary". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022. In the evening final, she split a 30.11 for the breaststroke leg and contributed to the final relay time of 1:44.96 to win the bronze medal and set a new Russian record in the event.LEN (8 December 2019). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2019 Glasgow (GBR): Results Women's 4x50m Medley Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022.Keith, Braden (8 December 2019). "Maria Kameneva Gets 7th Russian Record Of The 2019 European Championships". SwimSwam. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
2021 2021 Swimming World Cup At the second stop of the 2021 Swimming World Cup, held at Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary in October, Godun won a bronze medal in the 100 metre individual medley with a personal best time of 59.71 seconds on the first day of competition, which was less than one-tenth of a second slower than silver medalist Michelle Coleman of Sweden.FINA (7 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Budapest (HUN): Women's 100m Individual Medley Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022.Race, Retta (7 October 2021). "2021 FINA World Cup Budapest: Day 1 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 9 February 2022. The second day of competition, Godun won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke with a 1:04.71 and finished over six-tenths of a second ahead of the silver medalist in the event, Lydia Jacoby of the United States.FINA (8 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Budapest (HUN): Women's 100m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022.D'Addona, Dan (8 October 2021). "2021 FINA World Cup: Budapest Day 2 Finals: Kyle Chalmers Scorches To 100 Free Victory". Swimming World. Retrieved 9 February 2022. On the third and final day of competition at the Budapest stop, she won the gold medal in the 50 metre breaststroke in 29.81 seconds, this time finishing 0.16 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Lydia Jacoby.FINA (9 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Budapest (HUN): Women's 50m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022.Helminiak, Jeff (13 October 2021). "Jacoby nabs two 2nds at World Cup". Homer News. Retrieved 9 February 2022. Godun returned to the World Cup circuit at the fourth and final stop, held at the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan, where she competed in the 50 metre breaststroke and won the gold medal with a time of 29.64 seconds to finish 0.01 seconds ahead of the silver medalist and fellow Russian Yuliya Yefimova.FINA (30 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Kazan (RUS): Women's 50m Breaststroke Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
2021 European Short Course Championships
In November 2021, at the 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Kazan, Godun placed fourth in her first event, the 100 metre breaststroke, with a time of 1:04.67 that was less than half a second slower than bronze medalist in the event, Eneli Jefimova of Estonia.LEN (3 November 2021). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2021 Kazan (RUS): Results 100m Breaststroke Women Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022."Russia's Chikunova wins silver at 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championship". TASS. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022. For her second event of the Championships, the 200 metre breaststroke, Godun placed tenth in the prelims heats with a 2:23.17 and did not advance to the semifinals stage of competition as she was not one of the two fastest Russians in the event.LEN (4 November 2021). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2021 Kazan (RUS): Results 200m Breaststroke Women Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022. The same day as the 200 metre breaststroke, Godun split a 29.47 for the breaststroke leg of the 4×50 metre medley relay, contributing to the final time of 1:44.19, which won the relay team the gold medal and set a new Russian record.LEN (4 November 2021). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2021 Kazan (RUS): Results 4 x 50m Medley Women Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022.Sutherland, James (4 November 2021). "Russians Lead Record Breaking Party In Women's 200 Medley Relay". SwimSwam. Retrieved 9 February 2022. In her final event of the Championships, the 50 metre breaststroke, she won the bronze medal with a time of 29.80 seconds, finishing less than two-tenths of a second behind the gold and silver medalists in the event, Arianna Castiglioni and Benedetta Pilato, both of Italy.LEN (7 November 2021). "LEN European Short Course Swimming Championships 2021 Kazan (RUS): Results 50m Breaststroke Women Final". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 9 February 2022.Hamann, Michael (7 November 2021). "2021 European Short Course Championships: Day 6 Finals Live Recap". SwimSwam. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
2021 World Short Course Championships Leading up to the 2021 World Short Course Championships, Godun swam a personal best time of 1:03.77 in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2021 Russian Short Course Championships and became the second-fastest female Russian swimmer in the event behind Yuliya Yefimova.Race, Retta (20 November 2021). "Nika Godun Rips 1:03.77 SCM 100 Breast At Russian C'Ships". SwimSwam. Retrieved 9 February 2022. The Court of Arbitration for Sport enacted a reactionary ban against Russians starting 17 December 2020 and ending 16 December 2022, after allegations that Russians all across the country were doping, which required her and all other Russians going to the World Championships to compete under a name different than their country name, Russian Swimming Federation in this case, and without their national anthem and flag.Dunbar, Graham (17 December 2020). "Russia can't use its name and flag at the next 2 Olympics". The Associated Press. Retrieved 6 November 2022.Wamsley, Laurel; Kennedy, Merrit (17 December 2020). "Russia Gets Its Doping Ban Reduced But Will Miss Next 2 Olympics". NPR. Retrieved 6 November 2022.FINA (14 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) Abu Dhabi (UAE): Entries Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 6 November 2022.