Swimming and Diving

Senior Jordan Wilimovsky finished fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, missing the podium despite setting a personal best and eclipsing the American record entering the day.

Wilimovsky finished in 14:23.45, a whopping 10 seconds ahead of his previous personal record. Clark Smith of Texas won the race in 14:22.41; Wilimovsky missed the bronze medal by less than half a second in the 66-lap race.

The previous American record, held by Connor Jaeger, was 14:23.52.

Wilimovsky, the first American to qualify for the Olympics in both pool and open water swimming, also placed fourth in the 1,500-meter freestyle — the metric equivalent of the 1,650-yard free — at the Games in Rio de Janeiro last summer. He was fifth in the 10-kilometer open-water race.

Saturday’s effort marked a slight decline in result from Wilimovsky’s previous appearance at NCAAs in 2015. He finished third in the 1,650 free that year, but his time was more than 13 seconds slower than his most recent mark. He did not compete collegiately last year to train for the Olympics.

The senior also competed in the 500-yard free at NCAAs, finishing 13th overall to earn All-America honors in that event in addition to the 1,650 free. Fellow senior Andrew Cramer finished 13th in platform diving, earning All-America honors himself. NU finished 28th overall as a team.

Wilimovsky closes his college career as the school record holder in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle. He earned five All-America honors and in 2015 won an open-water world championship.

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Twitter: @ckpaxton