Swedish senior Kristian Kron has had some strong swims over the course of his college career with the Utes, many of which landed him spots at Pac-12 and the NCAA Championships, but none of these swims compare to what he accomplished last week.
Last week, Kron traveled back home to compete in the Swedish Nationals, something he had been looking forward to for some time now.
“It was at my home pool so it was really nice to see all my friends and family,” said Kron.
Since Kron has been training with the Utes, he didn’t have much time to rest and taper for the meet, and still he had only positive thoughts going into the meet. He hoped for the best, yet nothing would really prepare him for what was going to happen.
“It went pretty good and I did a couple of best times”, said Kron.
It was more than just pretty good. He broke his first Swedish national record in the 800-meter freestyle (7:49.82).
Another swimmer did break Kron’s record during the finals, but not even this could discourage him.
“It was my first Swedish record so I was happy with that,” said Kron. “I didn’t care that much that someone broke it in the finals; I already broke it so that’s all that matters.”
Later on in the meet, Kron and his team won the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with a 7:07.49. They also broke the Swedish national record, giving Kron his second record broken for the meet, and also splitting 1:48.05 in the relay.
“This has probably been the best start of the season I’ve ever had here in college,” said Kron. “It’s probably because I didn’t take much time off during the summer and trained through the whole summer. I’ve also been practicing better so this season is looking good.”
Last year, Kron came close to his breaking personal best times in several events, including the 100 (45.88) and 500 yard freestyle (4:32.08), and the 100 (48.89) and 200 yard backstroke (1:42.41).
This year, he hopes he can surpass those marks.
“My goal [for this year] is to make All-American and be able to place in the top 16 at the NCAA Championships,” said Kron.
In his first two meets with the Utes this season Kron won the 400-yard IM (3:56.48) against Cal, and the 200-yard IM (1:53.68) and 200-yard backstroke (1:48.21) against Stanford.
Teammate Ganem Tebet enjoys spending time with Kron and is positive he will have an unforgettable season.
“Kron is a hard worker, working hard everyday at every practice,” said Tebet. “He is a great guy, friend and a great leader. I really enjoy training with him. I know he is going to do great this season.”
Up next, Kron and the rest of the Utah swim team will head to College Station, Texas where they will compete in the Art Adamson Invitational (Nov. 19-21).
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