Nicole swam and lettered for three years at North Canyon High School in Phoenix, Arizona. Voted Most Valuable Player of her high school team, she was also state champion in the 200 free and a High School All-American. She has also been a swimmer on Bob Gillet's AFOX swim team for 5 years.

She decided on Yale because she wanted to make a contribution to an "awesome swim team" and also because of its academic reputation. Nicole's most memorable moment in swimming was dropping 3 seconds to win the 200 freestyle at her high school state meet in her senior year. She enjoys the beach, sleeping and swimming.