Jillian Cox Swims 15:34.66 in the 1650 Free to Become #10 Performer All-Time

2024 Texas Hall of Fame Invite

• November 20-22, 2024
• Where: Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center — Austin, TX
• When: 10 am CT prelims/6 pm CT finals
• Participating Teams: Pitt, Stanford, Texas (host), USC, Wisconsin, BYU, Cal Poly
• Meet Info
• Live Results
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invite”
• Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap

On the final day of the 2024 Texas Invite, Jillian Cox, a redshirt freshman for the Texas Longhorns, capped off an already stellar meet with a 24 second personal best and nation leading time in the 1650 freestyle. Her previous best came from Speedo Sectionals – Lewisville earlier this year in March, where she clocked a 15:58.68.

Cox was a member of USA’s 2023 World Championship team in the 800 free, where she placed 6th in 8:19.73. Following her success, Cox, an Austin native, opted to take an Olympic gap year, deferring her enrollment to Texas until this fall to train for US Trials. At Trials in June, Cox came in 3rd in both the 400 free and 800 free.

Upon arrival to train with the varsity squad Cox has settled in quickly. On Day 1 of the Texas Invite, she posted a 4:30.68 in the 500 free to shave 4 seconds off her previous best—a nation leading time this year and one that would have won 2024 NCAAs.

She continued to roll today, as her final time of 15:34.66 also would have won NCAA’s last year; it was a full 3 seconds quicker than Georgia’s Abby McCulloh, who swam a 15:37.74 to win the title by just over 3 seconds. Cox swam an extremely controlled race, consistently holding 28s and never breaching the 29 barrier. She flipped at the 500 mark in 4:44.97, her 2nd 500 was a 4:44.01, and her final 500 was a 4:43.08.

Full Splits Below:

Compared to her previous PB, Cox was faster all around: her 500 splits were 4:50.51/4:51.05/4:51.15, and she closed in a 27.50. Moreover, she had consistently held 29-lows every 50. While Cox’s pacing was consistent throughout both swims, her biggest improvement came on the second half of her race. She closed nearly 8 seconds faster on the final 500 in her new PB, whereas her opening 500 was just over 5 seconds quicker.

All Time Top Performers

1. Katie Ledecky, 15:01.41
2. Erica Sullivan, 15:23.81
3. Katie Hoff, 15:24.81
4. Leah Smith, 15:25.30
5. Katie Grimes, 15:26.17
6. Brittany MacLean, 15:27.84
7. Kate Ziegler, 15:29.15
8. Lotte Friis, 15:30.84
9. Ashley Twichell, 15:30.95
10. Jillian Cox, 15:34.66
11. Ally McHugh, 15:36.27
12. Aurora Roghair, 15:36.43

Stanford senior Aurora Roghair, the national runner-up at NCAAs this past year, also hit a big PB. She knocked nearly 5 seconds off the 15:41.11 that she swam to place 2nd, climbing the all time performers list to sit at #12 in history. Roghair’s 15:36.43 is also faster than McCulloh’s winning time from 2024 NCAAs.

Cox’s Longhorn teammate Kate Hurst also had a huge swim, finishing 3rd in 15:48.78 to drop nearly 20 seconds from her previous best of 16:08.25, which she set at Winter Juniors last year. Hurst represented the United States at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in February, and was the World Junior Champion in the 1500 free last September.

This group is part of a resurgence of women’s distance swimming in the NCAA around the country after a few years of receding times at the top of the country.

The Longhorns, who have been the National Runner-ups to Virginia every year since 2022, only had 1 swimmer score in this event at the 2024 NCAAs: Erica Sullivan, who placed 6th in 15:54.82. Sullivan however, graduated in the spring, leaving Texas with no returning scorers. Cox, along with Hurst, look primed to write a different narrative for Texas’ long distance crew this year.