LINCOLN, Neb. – Gena Jorgenson has had quite the year.

Since leaving for Lincoln, Neb. and the University of Nebraska women’s swimming program last fall, the Aberdeen native has broken the Huskers’ school record twice, qualified for the NCAA Division I championships in three different events and secured a qualifying mark for next summer’s Olympic Trials in the 400 IM.

Not a bad resume update.

And none of it was really on Jorgenson’s radar. Sure, she figured she’d probably drop some time with higher-level and more event-specific training. But she came in with mid-pack times, even amongst her teammates.

“It was definitely not something I expected,” Jorgenson said. “I came into the program not on the slower end, but definitely not on the top of the team end. I knew I would get better if I stuck with the training and believed in what the coaches had for us. I knew it would all work out. But I didn’t think I would get to where I am today.”

And where, exactly, is that?

Well, Jorgensen cut a whopping 20 seconds off her previous career best in the mile at the Big 10 Championships, finishing sixth overall. Later, she cut another 0.20 of a second at the NCAA Championships, finishing 28th overall. That swim was one of three events Jorgensen swam at the NCAA meet.

Plus, she holds UNL’s Devaney Center Natatorium record in the 1,000 freestyle.

Jorgenson credits a change in training for that drastic drop in time.

“I had never trained specifically for my events,” Jorgenson said. “That was probably the key. Higher intensity.”

Jorgenson spent most of the summer in Lincoln to continue her training with an eye toward next year’s Olympic Trials. But first, she has a more immediate goal: repeat her selection to the NCAA championship meet.

“Right now the goals are to cut time and get faster,” she said.

Jorgenson noted that having already been in the same water as some of the fastest swimmers in the world has had a calming effect, and she tries not to get too worked up over the magnitude of it.

“When it comes to that stuff, I just try to go with the flow,” she said.