Nebraska Swim and Dive March to NCAA Championships

After a successful 2025-26 campaign, the Nebraska swimming and diving team will send four athletes to the 2026 NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Ga., to compete March 18-21 at the McAuley Aquatic Center. 

Ranking the Big Red at No. 25, SwimSwam awarded the Huskers their first power ranking of the season heading into nationals. Heading the team are seniors Gena Jorgenson and Kelsey Clairmont, who will be competing in their fourth and third nationals, respectively. Also qualifying in their junior year seasons are sprinter Beatrix Tanko and springboard diver Abby Baxter. 

Jorgenson, a two-time All-American, picked up an automatic qualification to the Championships through her event title in the 1,650 freestyle at the 2026 Big Ten Championships. Her time of 15:45.36 broke her previous school record from the 2025 NCAA Championships of 15:49.99. Her times in the 400 IM and 500 freestyle earned the Aberdeen, S.D., native additional opportunities to compete later in the week.

Currently holding the school record times in both the 400 IM and 500 free, Jorgenson will look to further trim her times as she rounds out her time as a Husker. She improved on her previous 4:11.51 swim from the 2024 championships, setting a new mark of 4:07.84 at the conference championships in Minneapolis, Minn. She set an additional school record at the conference championships in the 500 free, where she swam to a third-place finish of 4:39.15. 

Clairmont, a platform specialist, picked up her qualifying score on the platform board at the Zone D Diving Championships last week in College Station, Texas. Amassing a score total of 513.25, Clairmont added a seventh-place finish to earn one of the 45 competition spots at nationals. 

Clairmont will compete on Saturday, March 21, the final day of competition, to finish her career as a Husker. The consistent contributor for the Big Red has earned qualifications in all four years on the three-meter and platform boards for the Zone D Championships.

Tanko qualified for the 100 fly with her school record time of 51.75 in the conference championship A finals. The junior from Budapest, Hungary, accumulated 21 top-five finishes throughout the season across the 50 and 100 free as well as 100 fly. 

Her seventh-place finish at the 2026 Big Ten Championships earned Tanko an invitation to compete in her other specialized events, both of which she holds the school record time in (50 free, 22.17; 100 free, 48.56). 

In her second trip to nationals, Baxter will compete on the one- and three-meter boards with her Zone D Diving performances. Hailing from Coppell, Texas, Baxter grabbed a pair of sixth-place finishes in order to qualify for the championships. 

On the one-meter board, Baxter amassed a total of 585.05 between prelims and finals, while she totaled a score of 668.85 on the three-meter board. 

With several format changes to the championships, the ‘B’ finals will be removed, and the top eight swimmers will instead swim in the finals. Places ninth through 16th will still earn second-team All-American status, but will not have a second swim. 

The championships will kick off on Wednesday, March 18, beginning with the 1,650 free, where Jorgenson will be ushering in her final swims as a Cornhusker. Events will run from Wednesday to Sunday with preliminary rounds beginning at 9 a.m. CT and finals at 5 p.m. Competition will be streamed on ESPN+ and followed along with the live results linked to Huskers.com. 

Nebraska at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Atlanta, Georgia (McAuley Aquatic Center)
March 18-21, 2026

Order of Events
Wednesday, March 18
1,650 Freestyle - Gena Jorgenson 

Thursday, March 19
100 Butterfly - Beatrix Tanko
400 IM - Gena Jorgenson 
1 Meter Diving - Abby Baxter 

Friday, March 20
500 Freestyle - Gena Jorgenson 
50 Freestyle - Beatrix Tanko
3 Meter Diving - Abby Baxter 

Saturday, March 21
100 Freestyle - Beatrix Tanko
Platform Diving - Kelsey Clairmont