His father Sture Nystrand is a Swede and his mother Smiljana Kokeza is a Croat from Split.

[5] Nystrand, a short course (25 m) specialist, has won five individual medals in the FINA Short Course World Championships, and captured his first medal (silver) in long course (50 m) in the 100 m freestyle at the 2006 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest, behind Filippo Magnini of Italy.

The following year he won a bronze medal at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne at the 50 m freestyle, with a new national record of 21.97.

After breaking the 48 second barrier in the 100 m freestyle long course (he was only the second person to do so after then world record holder Pieter van den Hoogenband) in Paris, Nystrand revealed that he averages less than 3,000 meters a practice, a minuscule amount compared to other professional swimmers, and never more than 20,000 meters a week.

He is also noted for having an atypical front crawl technique in which his arms do not bend during the recovery phase.