Texas Longhorn Jillian Cox Swims To Huge Lifetime Best With 4:30.68 500 Freestyle

Anya Pelshaw
by Anya Pelshaw 12

November 20th, 2024 College, SEC

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 Live Recap

Women’s 500 Free Finals

  • NCAA Record: 4:24.06, Katie Ledecky (Stanford)-2017
  • 2025 NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:36.89
  • 2025 NCAA ‘B’ Cut: 4:47.20
  • 2024 NCAA Cutline: 4:41.19
  1. Jillian Cox (Texas)- 4:30.68 A
  2. Aurora Roghair (Stanford)- 4:31.63 A
  3. Kate Hurst (Texas)- 4:37.59 B
  4. Abby Carlson (Wisconsin)- 4:37.62 B
  5. Erin Gemmell (Texas)- 4:38.28 B
  6. Kayla Wilson (Stanford)- 4:38.82 B
  7. Blair Stoneburg (Wisconsin)- 4:42.10 B
  8. Maddie Waggoner (Wisconsin)- 4:45.39 B

Jillian Cox of Texas swam to a huge lifetime best in the women’s 500 freestyle with a 4:30.68. Cox now takes the top spot in the NCAA this season after Florida’s Bella Sims swam the previous fastest of a 4:31.06 earlier this evening.

Cox entered the meet with a best time of a 4:34.41 that she swam earlier this month in a dual meet against Indiana. That swim had also marked a Texas school record. Prior to this month, her best time stood at a 4:36.93 that she swam in mid-November last fall while taking her Olympic Redshirt.

Cox’s time would have won NCAAs this past season as the first-year Sims captured the title in a 4:32.47. The Texas women notably had 0 finalists in the event, so Cox’s arrival is huge come the post season.

In addition to a lifetime best, the swim is almost surely a confidence boost for the first-year after she missed the US Olympic Team this past summer as she was 3rd in both the 400 and 800 freestyles at 2024 US Olympic Trials.

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I miss the ISL (Go dawgs)
1 month ago

Bruh and Roghair went 4:31 and doesn’t even get a mention! 500 free is stacked now!

jeff
1 month ago

Wow in all the hubbub I totally missed that Roghair went 4:31 too. Puts Cox and Roghair in 8th and 11th all time now, with Cox sandwiched between Katie Hoff/Dagny Knutson and Roghair between Brooke Forde/Cierra Runge

Ashe
1 month ago

Dang the women’s 500 free is now one of the deepest events in the ncaa. A few years ago it was the slowest!

USA
Reply to  Ashe
1 month ago

Crazy how a 4:36 won NCAAs not even two years ago

jess
1 month ago

Soooo this event will be even faster this year
Assuming, will take sub 4:30 to win at NCAAs, first time since Ledecky years, correct?

And we still have Katie Grimes to come in the spring with the best PB of them all among the leading contenders

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  jess
1 month ago

I may be wrong but the only 2 college swimmers that I can remember going sub 4:30 are Ledecky and Leah Smith.

jess
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
1 month ago

you know what thats right. i have in my head that there are more, which is true, they just all went those times in high school

jeff
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
1 month ago

yes, there are only 6 who have gone sub 4:30: McIntosh, Grimes, Sims, Weinstein in addition to those 2 and all 4 of them have only gone sub 4:30 in high school

Curious George
Reply to  jeff
1 month ago

About McIntosh she is now 18, presumably finishing high school this year. Where will she train next year. She can’t be at Sarasota forever.

aquajosh
Reply to  Curious George
1 month ago

Her mother swam for Florida, her current coach is a Florida alum. In Gainesville, she’d be able to train with Ledecky, Sims, Brousseau, Weyant among others, and it’s less than three hours drive to visit her family. I may be biased, but if she’s going to leave Sarasota, I’d like to see her in a Gator cap. She’d be hard pressed to find a better training group.

Curious George
Reply to  aquajosh
1 month ago

Didn’t know the connection but I guess makes sense if she chooses UF imagine training with your nemesis.

Applesandoranges
Reply to  jess
1 month ago

Nah, the winning time could be 4:32.2 for all we know. There’s no guarantee of anything in swimming.

About Anya Pelshaw

Anya Pelshaw

Anya has been with SwimSwam since June 2021 as both a writer and social media coordinator. She was in attendance at the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Women's NCAA Championships writing and doing social media for SwimSwam. She also attended 2023 US Summer Nationals as well as the 2024 European Championships …

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