Honors
First-Team All-American (1,650 Free, 2024)
NCAA Championships Qualifier
1,650 Free, 500 Free, 400 IM (2024)
1,650 Free, 500 Free, 400 IM (2023)
Nebraska School-Record Holder
500 Free, 4:41.03
1,000 Free, 9:41.68
1,650 Free, 15:55.71
400 IM, 4:11.51
800 Free LCM, 8:44.58
1,500 Free LCM, 16:40.17
Eighth, NCAA Championships, 1,650 Free (15:55.71, 2024)
Fifth, Big Ten Championships, 1,650 Free (16:01.72, 2024)
Sixth, Big Ten Championships, 1,650 Free (16:13.54, 2023)
Devaney Natatorium Record (1,000 free, 9:53.58)
Two Letters (2023, 2024)
CSCAA Scholar All-American (1st; 2023, 2024)
CSC Academic All-District (2024)
Big Ten Swimmer of the Week (Oct. 30 2024, Dec. 6 2023)
Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2024)
Academic All-Big Ten (2024)
Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2022, 2023; Spring 2023, 2024)
Nebraska Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (2024-25)
Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2023, 2024)
Junior (2024-25)
Gena Jorgenson heads to the postseason hunting All-America honors and a Big Ten Championship. One of the top distance freestylers in the country, Jorgenson has dominated the opposition during the 2024-25 season.
In Nebraska's dual wins over Iowa at Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. (Jan. 31-Feb. 1), Jorgenson took titles in the 500 (4:46.89) and 1,650 freestyles (16:19.02). She also secured a third-place finish in the 400 IM (4:18.18), while also swimming a leg in the 200 free relay (1:36.77).
Jorgenson added consistent performances in a dual win over Illinois at the Devaney Natatorium (Jan. 18). She collected a trio of first-place finishes in the 1,000 free (9:43.79), 200 back (1:58.09), and the 400 IM (4:15.33). She also helped lead a fourth-place finish in the 400 free relay (3:27.52).
Jorgenson swam to victory in a personal-best time of 2:04.87 in the 200 IM (2:04.87) in a dual win over Omaha in December. She also posted a third-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:38.59) as well as a fourth-place spot in the 100 fly (1:00.34).
She produced some of her best performances of the 2024-25 regular season at the Hawkeye Invitational in late November, racing to a season-best 4:41.89 in the 500 freestyle. Jorgenson added championships in the 1,650 freestyle (16:07.95) and the 800 free relay (7:14.79). She also contributed a second-place finish in the 400 IM (4:13.78) as well as a third-place showing in the 200 backstroke (1:58.60). She also helped the 400 medley relay (3:38.88) rally for a third-place finish.
In a dual win over South Dakota State (Nov. 8), Jorgenson collected a trio of first-place finishes in the 1,000 free (10:05.65), the 200 IM (2:08.25) and the 100 backstroke (58.85).
Jorgenson produced outstanding performances in Nebraska’s win over Kansas (Nov. 1), including four titles in the 200 freestyle (1:48.31), the 500 free (4:48.29), a personal best 1:57.67 in the 200 backstroke, and a leg in a winning 400 freestyle relay (3:22.25) alongside teammates Giulia Marchi, Maisie Gilford and Beatrix Tanko.
In another dual meet against Iowa State, Jorgenson captured three individual first-place finishes and a first-place relay finish. She notched a 4:59.39 in the 500 free and a 16:48.14 in the 1,650 free. In the 200 backstroke, she swam a 2:02.65, before contributing to the 400 free relay (3:27.63).
Jorgenson captured three titles in a dual at Iowa, sweeping the 500 and 1,000 free, while adding a win in the 200 backstroke. She also contributed to a second-place finish in the 400 free relay.
Jorgenson opened her junior season by swimming to a trio of individual titles in a double-dual with No. 24 Minnesota and South Dakota. She swept the 500 and 1,000 freestyle races while adding a win in the 200 backstroke against the Golden Gophers and Coyotes at the Devaney Natatorium (Oct. 4). She added a runner-up finish as a member of Nebraska's 400 relay team, alongside Tanko, Gilford and Marchi.
Sophomore (2023-24)
Jorgenson produced a monumental sophomore season, breaking four school records and qualifying for three events at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. Jorgenson swam a school-record time of 15:55.71 in the 1,650 freestyle at nationals to capture an eighth-place finish and claim first-team All-America honors.
She became the first Husker swimmer to earn first-team honors since 2001. Jorgenson posted a career-best time of 4:41.03 in the 500 freestyle and another career-best time of 4:11.51 in the 400 IM to shatter two more school records at nationals.
She entered 2024-25 with six school records. At the Hawkeye Invitational, Jorgenson logged an NCAA B Standard in the 500 free prelims (4:45.60). She posted a winning time of 4:43.87 in the final and added her second title of the meet in the 1,650 freestyle (16:15.82).
At the Big Ten Championships, Jorgenson took fifth in 1,650 free (16:01.72) and 10th in the 500 freestyle (4:41.19) while hitting the NCAA B Standard in both events. She also helped the Huskers to an eighth-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay at the Big Ten Championships with the third-fastest time in school history (7:11.31).
Freshman (2022-23)
Jorgenson unleashed an historic freshman season, twice breaking the 1,650 freestyle school record while punching her ticket to the NCAA Championships. She cut 20 seconds off her previous career-best mile time (16:13.54) at the Big Ten Championships to set a school record and place sixth overall. At NCAAs, Jorgenson broke the record again with a 16:13.34 to place 28th. She added a 41st-place finish in the 400 IM (4:18.00) and a 56th-place showing in the 500 free (4:46.43) at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
Jorgenson added a 13th-place finish in the 500 freestyle at the Big Ten meet with a then-career-best 4:45.02. She also won the 400 IM C Final with a then-career-best 4:15.95. She swam to a pair of 500 freestyle titles in the first two meets of the season at South Dakota State (5:04.50) and against Iowa State (4:58.68). She added a 1,000 freestyle win against the Cyclones in 10:13.63. NU hosted Minnesota and South Dakota for a double-dual, where Jorgenson notched a pair of runner-up finishes in the 1,000 freestyle and 200 IM with times of 10:15.03 and 2:09.25, respectively. She added a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle, clocking a 5:03.16.
At the Iowa dual, Jorgenson won the 1,000 freestyle with a 10:11.44, finished second in the 500 freestyle with a 5:00.64 and took third in the 200 IM with a 2:08.76. At Kansas, Jorgenson pitched in another 1,000 freestyle victory in 10:14.79 and a pair of runner-up finishes in the 500 freestyle (5:00.74) and the 400 IM (4:29.71).
Jorgenson swam in the A Final in four different individual races at the competitive Hawkeye Invite. She went on to cut 20 seconds off her previous career-best 1,650 freestyle time, to finish as runner-up in 16:34.48. Adding a trio of top-five finishes, Jorgenson took third in the 500 freestyle (4:48.19) and the 400 IM (4:18.31), while finishing fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:49.03). She was also a member of Nebraska’s winning 800 freestyle relay at the invitational (7:16.24).
Before Nebraska
Jorgenson left her mark on swim and dive in the state of South Dakota, setting seven individual state records in long course meters and three in short course yards. She won every individual event at the state championship for five-straight seasons. Jorgenson qualified for the Futures Championship, held in July of 2022. It was her third appearance and her best showing at the esteemed event. To qualify, swimmers must record a time that is in the top 3 percent of swimmers in the United States. Jorgenson swam to titles in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle events, while placing third in the 400-meter freestyle and fourth in the 400 IM.
Personal
The daughter of Jason and Lisa Jorgenson, Gena was born in Fairmont, Minn., on Jan. 4, 2004. She has two younger brothers, Andrew and Benjamin. A biological sciences major, Gena earned CSC Academic All-District honors in 2024. She was also a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades in 2024. A two-time first-team CSCAA Scholar All-American, Jorgenson is a four-time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll selection. A two-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team, Jorgenson is a Nebraska Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative in 2024-25.
Career-Best Times
Event | Time | Meet (Date) |
100 Fly | 1:00.68 | South Dakota State (2022) |
200 Free | 1:48.31 | Kansas (2024) |
500 Free | 4:41.03 | NCAA Championships (2024) |
1000 Free | 9:41.68 | Illinois (2024) |
1650 Free | 15:55.71 | NCAA Championships (2024) |
100 Back | 55.18 | Hawkeye Invitational (2024) |
200 Back | 1:57.38 | Hawkeye Invitational (2024) |
200 Breast | 2:29.20 | SDSU (2023) |
200 IM | 2:04.87 | Omaha (2024) |
400 IM | 4:11.51 | NCAA Championships (2024) |