Nicole de Man was the first UT female athlete to win an NCAA swimming title—the 50-yard freestyle in 22.59 in 1995. (She also won SEC 50 freestyle championships in 1995 and 1996.) She won 20 All-America certificates as a competitor for UT. In 1996 de Man was chosen Lady Vols Athlete of the Year. She was the first female competitor from UT to win three SEC individual titles, and she was inducted into the (then) Lady Vol Hall of Fame in 2007 and into the UT Swimming Hall of Fame in 2008. After finishing college, she taught school for several years.