Niki Alvarez was named Lynn University’s inaugural head women’s swimming coach and the second head cross country coach on February 7, 2012. Tasked with building two programs at the same time, Alvarez rose to the challenge and developed two programs that received national recognition until she took control solely of the swimming program in the spring of 2016.
During her tenure in the pool, Alvarez has quickly built Lynn swimming into one of the premier programs in NCAA Division II. Since the women’s team’s inception in 2012-13, the Fighting Knights have earned more than 150 CSCAA All-America selections, 50-plus CSCAA Scholar All-America honors, 30 All-Sunshine State Conference selections, three SSC Swimmer of the Year awards and multiple SSC Swimmer of the Meet honors. The women’s program has also captured five individual NCAA Division II National Championships and a 200-medley relay national title.
Over the last five seasons, Lynn has emerged as one of Division II’s top women’s swimming programs, finishing 14th at the NCAA Championships in 2021-22, seventh in 2022-23, fifth in 2023-24, fifth again in 2024-25 and 14th in 2025-26.
The 2024-25 season marked one of the finest campaigns in program history. Lynn finished fifth at the NCAA Division II Championships with 233 points, while Luna Mertins captured national championships in the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Mertins was named the CSCAA Division II Women’s Swimmer of the Year, Sunshine State Conference Women’s Swimmer of the Year and SSC Swimmer of the Meet. She also earned CSC Academic All-America First Team honors and was named the CSC Academic All-America of the Year for women’s swimming. At the 2025 SSC Championships, the Fighting Knights totaled 13 medals, including four individual gold medals from Mertins and five relay medals.
Alvarez continued to push the program forward in 2025-26, as the Lynn women finished 14th at the NCAA Division II Championships and produced eight All-American honorees: Lydia Douthit, Luz Tapia, Mariele De Santis, Malaika Schneider, Adel Pal, Lily Drons, Ala Piascinska and Ally Webster. Douthit and Tapia earned First Team All-America honors individually, while De Santis and Schneider added individual Second Team All-America performances. At the 2026 SSC Championships, the women collected eight total medals, including four individual medals and four relay medals, while Mariele De Santis earned First Team All-SSC recognition.
Alvarez started the Lynn men’s swimming program in 2019-20 and has quickly elevated the Fighting Knights into a national contender. After finishing 29th at the NCAA Championships in 2023-24 and tied for 10th in 2024-25, the men broke through in 2025-26 with a fifth-place national finish, the highest NCAA Championship placement by any Lynn swimming team in school history.
The 2025-26 men’s season was highlighted by Maurice Grabowski, who delivered one of the most dominant individual seasons in NCAA Division II history. Grabowski won four individual national championships in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle, while also leading off Lynn’s NCAA Division II record-setting 200 medley relay national title. He was named the CSCAA Division II Men’s Swimmer of the Year, SSC Men’s Swimmer of the Year, SSC Swimmer of the Meet and SSC Male Athlete of the Year. He also earned CSC Academic All-America First Team honors.
In 2025-26, the Lynn men produced six All-American honorees in Grabowski, Max Tsyfarov, Vitaly Kostin, Enzo Constable, Paul Melcer and Brady Moore. The Fighting Knights finished fifth out of 31 teams at the NCAA Championships with 260 points, while the women placed 14th out of 35 teams.
Lynn has also continued to excel academically under Alvarez. The women earned CSCAA Team Scholar All-America recognition with a 3.87 team GPA in Spring 2025 and a 3.76 in Fall 2025, continuing the program’s tradition of excellence in the pool and in the classroom.
Alvarez was also tasked with reinstating the cross country program after an 11-year absence. While the squad stumbled out of the gates early, she trained the first cross country student-athlete in school history, Gabriella Wuyke, to reach the NCAA South Region Tournament and later the Division II National Championship, as well as Sarah Northup, who qualified for the NCAA South Regional. Wuyke was also a two-time SSC All-Championship Team selection, First Team All-SSC honoree and All-South Region pick under Alvarez's guidance.
Alvarez arrived at Lynn with more than 12 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, where success followed her at every stop. Prior to joining the Blue and White, she spent eight years as Florida Atlantic University’s men’s and women’s assistant swimming coach.
In 2006, Alvarez helped the Owls to an appearance at the NCAA Championships. On the women’s side, FAU earned two fourth-place finishes, while a member of the men’s team advanced to the B final of the 100-yard breaststroke. Alvarez was also the head of the men’s and women’s distance program at FAU and became the head recruiter for both FAU swim teams in 2006.
Prior to Florida Atlantic, Alvarez held the head coaching post at Georgia Southern University from 2002-04. In her first season with Georgia Southern, the team earned a third-place finish at the Southern State Championship meet. Guiding the Eagles into the Northeast Conference in 2004, she saw her team finish third at the conference championships and led the Eagles to a winning record in her two seasons at the helm of the program.
Alvarez also spent time as a graduate assistant instructor at Florida State from 2000-01, as well as the head aquatic club swimming coach at Maclay School in Tallahassee.
Alvarez got her first collegiate experience at the College of Charleston, where she served as an assistant coach after graduating in 1999. While attending the College of Charleston, she was a team co-captain, a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board and co-president for one year.
In addition to Alvarez’s collegiate swimming coaching experience, she brings a wealth of knowledge to Lynn as a four-time USA Triathlon All-American from 2007-10. Alvarez volunteered as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Team in Training coach from 2006-07. She also holds a USA Triathlon Level I coaching certification.
Alvarez has a Master’s of Science degree in Sport Management from Florida State University and a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Sociology from the College of Charleston.
