National Champion

Chris Swanson '12 was named Hillsborough County’s best swimmer during his senior year at Jesuit High School.

Now, he’s a national collegiate champion.

On March 26 in Atlanta at the NCAA Championships, Swanson, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, turned in a performance for the ages. Trailing by nearly four seconds with 100 yards to go in the NCAA 1,650 freestyle championship, Swanson made a historic rally to win by just 0.12, in 14:31.54.

Swanson is the first Ivy League male swimmer to win an NCAA title in 26 years, and the first ever from Penn and from Jesuit. It was the closest margin of victory in event history, and Swanson was mobbed by teammates on the pool deck afterward (homepage photo courtesy of the Associated Press).

During the race, Swanson performed with metronomic consistency until his remarkable surge at the end. From lap 2 through 30, he swam each 50 yards in between 26.3 and 26.7 seconds.

The final 50 yards, lap 33, Swanson clocked in 24.38 to cap off the incredible comeback and become a national champion.

To view a video of the race, click here. 

Video interview with Swanson, click here. 

News story from SwimSwam, click here.  

Tampa Tribune story, click here.