Baton Rouge, Louisiana – LSU swimmer Jere Fribar qualified A in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2024 Speed Canadian Swimming Open in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Saturday night, qualifying for the 2024 Paris Open. He earned the right to participate in the Olympics.
Fribar, a native of Split, Croatia, won with an official time of 21.94 seconds and will represent his country in Paris. His A standard that Hribar had to clear to earn automatic qualification was his 21.96.
One of the top freshman sprinters in college swimming, Fribar placed 10th in the repechage final with a time of 18.96 seconds and earned All-American honors in the 50-yard freestyle. Fliver currently holds the second place in the LSU record books in the 50 free (18.81) and 100 free (41.96) behind U.S. Olympic gold medalist Brooks Curry.
“This was a great accomplishment for Jere and we are proud of everything he accomplished this season,” head coach Rick Bishop said. “The Canadian Open was an immediate turnaround from the NCAA Championships, where Jere earned All-American honors in the 50 free event and established himself as one of the top two freshman sprinters in the NCAA.”
Fribar narrowly missed the A standard in the 50 free by 0.01 seconds during the qualifying session, but came back in the evening session and showed resilience to achieve the ultimate goal for any swimmer: the Olympics. .
LSU has more swimmers competing in the Canadian Open, with current Tigers Sofia Sartori and Helen Saba swimming at the Canadian Open.
“Other Tiger swimmers Helen Sava, Sofia Sartori and Maggie McNeil also had great competition,” Bishop said. “This was Helen's first long course chance and she ran a strong time. Sofia, who also just returned from the NCAA Championships, achieved an outstanding lifetime best in the 100 fly and is now among the top Italian I have established myself as one of the best butterfly players.”
Sartori recorded a time of 59.84 seconds in the 100-meter fly.
Former Tiger and Olympic champion Maggie McNeil used the opportunity as a training event. She is preparing for the Canadian Olympic Trials, which will be held from May 13 to 19 at the same facility where the Tigers competed in the Canadian Open.
“Maggie's swim was consistent with her previous early season swims,” Bishop said. “This is a great event for our Tigers and continues our momentum as we continue to prepare for the various Olympic Trials and the upcoming Paris Olympics.”
