NCAA qualifier in 2022, 2023, and 2024 Chris Nagy has announced his transfer to Kentucky to use his COVID-19 fifth year. Nagy spent his undergrad career at Minnesota.
Nagy’s freshman year highlight included swimming personal best times in all three of his primary events (200, 500, and 1650 freestyles) at the Big Ten Championships. His highest finish was 9th in the 1650 free in a 15:06.97.
He showed a big progression in his sophomore season and earned an NCAA invite as he swam a personal best of a 14:53.66 in the 1650 free at the Minnesota Last Chance meet. He went on to finish 20th in the event at NCAAs in a 14:56.93 and was 48th in the 500 free in a personal best 4:21.64.
Nagy once again earned an NCAA invite during his junior season after swimming a 14:52.62 at midseason in the 1650 free. At Big Tens, he swam personal bests in the 500 (4:19.75) and 200 (1:38.14) freestyles. He went on to finish 23rd in the 1650 free at NCAAs in a personal best 14:52.43 and was also 43rd in the 500 free.
At 2024 Big Tens, Nagy was 4th in the 1650 free in a 14:58.97 but just a week later at the Minnesota Last Chance meet he posted a personal best time of a 14:46.36 to earn an invite to NCAAs. He finished 21st in the event at NCAAs with a 14:50.32 but his time from the Last Chance would have been 14th.
Nagy’s personal best times are:
- 200 free: 1:38.14
- 500 free: 4:19.75
- 1650 free: 14:46.36
Nagy is a big boost for the Kentucky men and will be able to train alongside fellow NCAA 1650 freestyles Carson Hick who enters his sophomore season and Levi Sandidge who is entering his junior season. Hick was 19th in the event at 2024 NCAAs while Sandidge was 24th.
At the SEC level, Nagy would have been right in the middle of Sandidge and Hick. Sandidge finished 3rd at 2024 SECs in a 14:44.24 while Hick was 5th in a 14:47.84. Nagy’s best 500 free time would also have scored points making the ‘C’ final.
The Kentucky men were 10th out of 10 teams at 2024 SECs. The team enters its second season under head coach Bret Lundgaard who was hired last offseason. Also transferring to the team this fall is Piotr Kowalczyk from Lindenwood.
Nagy will earn a masters in computer engineering. He told SwimSwam, “I really connected with the coaches, especially Jordan and Bret, and the guys on the team were very welcoming. The distance group there is phenomenal so I thought that I would really benefit from that environment. I enjoyed my time at Minnesota, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to experience something new and make new connections.“
Sweet!
Let’s go!!! Keep adding great additions, Cats!