An LSU swimmer is making waves after qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics

An LSU freshman swimmer is making waves for his home country after qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics this weekend.

Jere Hribar is a 6-foot-8 freestyle specialist and native of Split, Croatia. He qualified in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2024 Speedo Canadian Swimming Open on Saturday to book his ticket to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Before coming to LSU, Hribar was one of the best young swimmers in all of Europe. He attended the School of Design, Graphics and Sustainable Construction in Croatia and placed second in the 50-free at the European Junior Swimming Championships. He also took home second in the 100-free and third in the 50-free at the Junior World Championships.

After a successful high school career, Hribar chose to come to LSU to join head coach Rick Bishop’s team.

“I have several reasons [for coming to LSU], but the main reasons are that I will be surrounded by the best athletes in the world and knowing that I should improve a lot because of the incredible athletic culture I am surrounded by,” Hribar said. “The second main reason I get to work with Coach Bishop and the best assistant coaches in the sport. I spoke with them a lot of times and they seem to be really great people. Also, they have coached Olympians and know their job very well. Outside of swimming, I will get a world-class education at LSU, and I am excited for the new classes.”

His freshman season was one of the best in LSU’s history as he grabbed the No. 2 spot in school history in multiple different events.

Olympic gold medalist Brooks Curry is the only swimmer above Hrbiar in the 50-free and 100-free in school history. He started his freshman season with wins in both the 50-free and 100-free in Utah.

He earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors in January for his performance in the final regular season meet of the season. He claimed second place in that meet with a 19.39 in the 50-yard freestyle which improved his already No. 2 mark in LSU history.

He placed seventh in the 50-free and 100-free as well as 27th in the 200-free at the SEC Championships last season. He earned an All-America honor after finishing 10th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 18.96 at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

“This was an outstanding accomplishment for Jere, and we are proud of everything he has achieved this season,” LSU head coach Rick Bishop said. “The Canadian Open was a quick turnaround from the NCAA Championship where Jere earned All-American honors in the 50 free and established himself as one of the top two Freshman sprinters in the NCAA.”