2021 Futures Finalist Aaron Baltaytis Sends Verbal to Northwestern (2023)

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Aaron Baltaytis of Tenafly, NJ has announced his decision to continue his athletic and academic careers at Northwestern University beginning in the fall of 2023. He swims club with the Jersey Flyers Aquatic Club and he is currently a junior at Tenafly High School. His older brother Jacob swam at Bowdoin College.

I am excited to announce my verbal commitment to further my academic and athletic careers at Northwestern University!! I would like to thank my coaches, friends, teammates, educators, and most importantly my family for helping me along the way. I’m stoked to get to work with the fantastic team and staff at NU. GO CATS!!

Baltaytis is a 2021 Winter U.S. Open qualifier. In December, he competed at the Holiday Classic in Piscataway, NJ. There he swam 8 events, in all four strokes plus the IM: the 100 and 200 free, 100 and 200 back, 100 and 200 fly, 100 breast, and 200 IM. He picked up personal best times in each race and won in finals of the 200 IM, 200 fly, and 100 and 200 back. He was second in the 100 fly, third in the 100 free, and fourth in the 100 breast.

The versatile swimmer picked up Winter U.S. Open cuts in the 100 back and fly, Winter Juniors Cuts in the 100 free, 200 back, and 200 fly, and Futures cuts in the 100 breast and 200 free.

In July of 2021, Baltaytis was a B-finalist at the Futures Championship in Richmond. He swam the 100 free, 100 and 200 back, and 100 fly. He touched 38th, 22nd, 45th, and 10th, respectively in prelims. During finals, he jumped from 22nd to 17th in the 100 back, shaving 0.8 seconds off his morning time to go a PB of 58.25.

He competed in the B-final of the 100 fly, touching 11th overall in a best time of 56.11. Both finals races earned him 2022 Summer Juniors qualifying times. He ended the championship meet with four new best times.

Top SCY Times:

• 50 free – 21.31
• 100 free – 45.23
• 200 free – 1:41.24
• 100 back – 48.72
• 200 back – 1:48.95
• 100 fly – 48.10
• 200 fly – 1:48.14
• 200 IM – 1:52.91

Baltaytis will join the Northwestern Wildcats in the 2023-2024 season.

While he doesn’t have one big standout his event, his progression and versatility make him a tantalizing prospect for the Wildcats.

In his best event, the 100 fly, his best time improved from 50.43 to 48.10 across the 2021 calendar year. In the 100 free, he improved from 47.37 to 45.23. Baltaytis didn’t race much in the early part of the pandemic – he went essentially a full year, from February 2020 to February 2021, without a meet – but he still improved in that time period.

Last season, his 100 fly time would have made him their fourth fastest, while his 200 fly would have been the third-fastest. Similarly, he would have been the team’s fourth-fastest 100 backstroker and their fifth-fastest in the 200 back.

Northwestern has also received a verbal commitment from ‘Best of the Rest’ Diego Nosack. The two men have kicked off recruiting for the Wildcats’ class of 2027.

If you have a commitment to report, please send an email with a photo (landscape, or horizontal, looks best) and a quote to [email protected].

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