Coach Joe Zemaitis has got to be proud of his protege, Keaton Jones.

Then 18 years old, Jones represented the USA at the IISA 5th World Championship in Samoëns, France in January 2023. He was absolutely dominant winning and setting a world record in the 50m backstroke in 27.93, the 100m butterfly in 59.36, the 100m  freestyle in 55.69, the 100m backstroke in 1:00.27, and won the 50m freestyle while competing in both the 4×50 mixed medley relay and the 4x250m mixed freestyle relay.

Dial forward another year and Jones is now an Olympic pool swimmer for Team USA, qualifying second in the 200m backstroke last night at the USA Swimming Olympic Trials. The top three swimmers were extremely close: Olympic gold medalist and fellow University of California Berkeley teammate Ryan Murphy finished first in 1:54.33, Jones was second in 1:54.61 just touching out third place Jack Aikins in 1:54.78. The top two Americans make the 2024 Olympic team.

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