[5] Under the training of Michigan Head Coach Matthew Mann, in a highlight of his collegiate swimming career in 1932, he beat teammate Frank Kennedy for the Big 10 conference crown in the 440-yard distance freestyle.

[5] Jim Gilhula, a challenging competitor, swam for the Detroit Athletic Club and University of Southern California and competed in the 400-meter freestyle at the August 1932 Los Angeles Olympics with Cristy.

[7] In March 1931, during Cristy's tenure with the team, Michigan swimming won the NCAA championship at Chicago's Lake Shore Athletic Club, defeating Rutgers by six points.

In the lengthy event, he finished only half a lap behind the strong performance of Austin Clapp of Stanford, who had to set an American record time of 20:03.2 to beat Cristy and win the meet.

[13] Continuing to compete against top talent, he lost by eight lengths in the 440-yard freestyle to Buster Crabbe, an L.A. distance star, two-time Olympic medalist, and future actor, in a college meet with the Los Angeles Athletic Club in April 1932.

[15] Swimming in the second heat of the Olympic trials for the 1500-meter event in Los Angeles around August 11, 1932, Cristy placed first winning by 15 meters, though other qualifiers particularly from Japan likely had faster times.

[3][1][18][2][19] Cristy placed third swimming the 1500-meter freestyle at the 1936 U.S. Olympic Trials in Warwick Nick, Rhode Island, while representing Chicago's Lake Shore Athletic Club.

[22] One day after graduating Michigan, Barbara married Jim on June 17, 1935, at his mother's home in Ann Arbor in a small ceremony with family, by a Reverend of the Episcopal Church.

[23] After graduating Michigan in June 1934, Cristy spent ten years in the insurance business in Chicago and Detroit before joining the Upjohn Company, a Michigan-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, around 1945.

[4][24] In 1968, he was first appointed to a board by Michigan Governor Romney to oversee state employee retirement systems, in an attempt to make them more uniform and investigate paying pensions through current revenue.