Keaton Jones is an American Backstroker. As an age-grouper out of Arizona, he set NAG Records. HE swims collegiately for Cal. After representing the US at the junior-international level and International Ice Swimming World Championships, Jones qualified to represent the US in the 200 back at the 2024 Olympic Games
Junior/High School Swimming
Jones, 14, entered 2019 with a best time of 1:01.26 in the 100 back. In his first LCM meet in May, Jones broke 1:00 for the first time, going 58.43. He also set lifetime bests in the 200 free (2:00.02), 200 back (2:06.35) and 200 IM (2:13.40) over the weekend.
In July at the Arizona Age Group State Championships, after a 2:03.50 in the prelims, narrowly missing his previous personal best of 2:03.01, Jones dropped a 2:01.20 in the final. That put Jones well under the Trials Cut of 2:02.99, and fell just over two-tenths shy of the NAG held by Josh Zuchowski at 2:00.97. In addition to the 200 back, he also set new best times in the 200 free (1:58.01), 400 free (4:07.28), 800 free (8:38.84) 1500 free (16:40.19), 50 back (28.08), 200 back (57.58), and 400 IM (4:36.43) at the competition. He won every race he swam.
Here is video of that 200 back:
Swim Neptune opted to hold a LCM meet in October, and Jones was able to break the NAG Record he neared in the summer. Jones swam a 2:00.28 at the meet, .69 seconds under the old mark.
At the Arizona DII High School Championships, Jones, a freshman for Higley, set PBs in the 50 free and 100 back in prelims with times of 4:28.69 and 49.70 respectively. He added some in both events in the final but still won the 500 free and took runner-up in the 100 back.
He reset that 100 back PB and 2 others at 2019 Winter Juniors–West a few weeks later. He started things off with a 25th place finish in the 500 free with a 4:29.62, his 2nd fastest swim ever. He then moved onto the 400 IM where he won the “B” final with a 3:53.14, a 2.4 second drop from his PB which he set in prelims. Jones dipped under 49 seconds for the first time in the 100 back prelims, notching a 48.87 there. He was slower in finals at a 49.31 for 16th there.
All of these swims were just a prelude to his Crescendo: the 200 back. He had a monster morning swim, winning heat 9 with 1:43.58 and lowering his personal best by nearly 4 seconds. That led the field by .42 seconds. In the final, Jones sat 4th at the 100 with a 50.41 he then dropped big splits of 26.23 and 26.17 over the back 100 to surge to the first with a 1:42.81.
After a months-long meet drought during the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Jones returned to a couple of small meet hosted by his team in August and September 2020. He kicked things off at the start of August with PBs in the 50/100/200/500 free. He was 21.10/45.32/1:38.41/4:22.66. He also was a 48.89 100 back.
A month later, Jones reset that 200 PB with a 1:38.00. He was also 15:42.14 in his 1650, 45/70 in his 100 free, and 1:43.29 in his 200 back.
He continued things in LCM a couple of weeks later with a stellar 800 free, dropping 13 seconds with an 8:16.27. Considering elevation, his altitude adjusted time was 8:11.27, under the Olympic Trials cut. He later crushed a 4:02.28 which altitude adjusted to a 3:59.78.
In the 100 back, he scorched a huge 56.42, a 1.1 second PB. That added a 3rdOlympic Trials cut to Jones’ pocket. That was also the top time in the nation since the mid-March shutdowns. HE also swam a 2:05.13 200 back.
At the Arizona Division II High School Championships in November, Jones failed to defend his 500 free state title, adding 8 seconds from his PB posted over the summer with a 4:30.78. He was dusted by Daniel Matheson by over 10 seconds. However, Jones did manage to improve on his runner-up finish from 2020 in the 100 back, winning with a 50.45.
After Olympic Trials, Jones returned to racing at the Austin Sectionals meet in July and posted tons of best times. On the 2nd day of the meet, Jones won the 100 back, just off his PB from Trials with a 56.29 for the win. He returned to the winner’s circle within a 1:51.51 200 free, a .89 second PB. The next day, he took the 200 back with a 2:00.41. He also took 2nd in the 200 fly with a 2:02.74, won the 200 IM with a 2:05.13, and posted a 23.63 50 free.
After nearing his PB with a 4:22.89 at a high school invite, Jones finally swept his events at the Arizona Division II High School Championships. He led prelims in both the 200 free and 100 back with PBs of 1:37.17 and 48.51 respectively. In the final, he dropped more time with a 1:36.91 and a 48.39.
At Winter Juniors–West a month later, Jones reset those PBs and more. He started things off in the 500 free and 200 IM on the first full day. In the 500 free prelims, he reset his PB with a 4:22.21. In the 200 IM prelims, he made the “B” final with a 1:48.32. Jones was even better that night, He duked it out with Rex Mauer in the 500 free, with Mauer slowly reeling him in after he opened up a near 2-second lead over the first 200. Mauer just out touched Jones by .14 seconds as they pushed each other to PBs. Jones was 4:15.54. In the 200 IM finals, Jones reset his PB with a 1:47.16 for 10th. He finished out the night with a 47.69 100 back PB leading off in the 400 medley relay.
He took on the 400 IM, 200 free, and 100 back on day 3. He managed the triple well in the morning posting PBs in the 400 IM (3:48.81) and 200 free (1:36.78) while also swimming a 48.10 100 back at the end. In the final, he added the 200 free relay to make it a quadruple. Jones Kicked things off with a 3:47.55 400 IM for 4th, another PB. He continued the night off by dropping a further .84 seconds in the 200 free with a 1:35.94 for 5th. He rounded out his individual events within a 47.92 100 back, his #2 time ever. Jones was just a 20.68 from the swing in his 50 free split at the end but that was to be expected after his load.
Jones wrapped up his meet with the 200 back on the final day. After leading prelims with a 1:43.28, he crushed a PB of 1:41.78 in the final for 2nd.
Jones closed out his SCY season at Sectionals in Phoenix. He clocked PBs in the 50 free (20.52), 100 free (1:35.42), and 200 Fly (1:45.81). He also had solid swims in his 100 back (48.19) 200 back (1:44.91), and 1650 free (15:20.95).
Between Trials in April and Jr. Pan Pacs in August, Jones popped a couple of notable PBs at the Arizona Senior State Championships. In the 100 back, he clocked a 56.04 and in the 100 free, he was 50.47.
He kept things up at the Mt. Hood Sectionals. He won the 100 back with a 56.61 before resetting his PB leading off in a relay with a 55.55. On another relay, he set a 50 back PB of 26.32. He also won the 200 back in 2:02.07 and took 2nd in the 100 fly with a PB of 54.57.
Jones then competed at the College Station Futures Championships. His big swim came in the 400 free where he reset his PB with a 3:56.36. He was also 56.00 and 2:00.37 in his 100/200 backs, good signs for Jr. Pan Pacs.
In November, Jones capped off his high school swimming career with a 1:35.72 in the 200 freestyle that earned him the title. Jones shaved more than half a second off the previous state record of 1:36.33 set by Tyler Messerschmidt in 2010. He also reset Darian Townsend’s previous facility record of 1:36.27 from 2014 en route to Division I swimmer of the meet honors. Jones also won in his other individual event: the 100 backstroke. His time of 48.28 just missed taking down Alex Righi’s 18-year-old state record of 48.00, but Jones did come away with another facility record by shattering the previous mark of 50.09 swam by Alex Schultz in 2012.
Jones had a monster of a final Winter Juniors, racking up a plethora of PBs. From the start, he was on fire, clocking a 22.35 50 back relay leadoff and a 1:33.50 200 free relay leg on the first night. While he was not as fast as he was a year prior in the 500 free the next morning, Jones still clocked an impressive 4:20.31. He added in finals and placed 8th but that finals session was not a wash as he clocked a 47.60 100 back leading off in the 400 free relay, a big PB.
Day 3 saw Jones crush a 200 free of 1:34.82 in prelims and another PB of 47.54 in the 100 back prelims. In those finals, he was even better, dropping to a 1:34.31 in the 200 free and a 46.79 in the 100 back, both good for 3rd. Jones saved his best for last, tackling his signature 200 back on the final day. He led prelims with a massive 1:40.32 200 back. While he was not able to repeat that in the finals, he was still under his old PB in the final with a 1:41.43 for 2nd.
He wrapped his SCY season up at the Austin Sectionals, Clocking PBs in the 100 free (43.36), 100 back (46.90), and 200 IM (1:45.51). He clocked a 1:40.73 200 back and 1:34.66 200 free, his 2nd fastest swims in each event respectively. Jones also had some big relay splits, clocking a 19.67 50 free split and a 42.58 100 free split.
Between Trials and WUGs, at the Boise Sectionals in July, Jones led off the Swim Neptune 400 medley relay with a 54.44. Behind him came Tres Mungia (1:04.18), August Vetsch (53.49), and Ian Pickles (51.03) to swim a 3:43.14. The squad managed to crack the 17-18 NAG, which had just been set by Rose Bowl Aquatics less than two weeks ago. He also recorded a 46.85 100 back PB leading off int he 400 medley relay that night.
College Swimming
In October 2021, Jones announced his verbal commitment to the University of California, Berkeley (AKA Cal). Jones was #5 in our Way Too Early Rankings of the class of 2023. He was #6 in our junior year re-rank. In our final re-rank, as the top 200 backstroker, he was #9.
2023-24 (Cal)
Jones’ first big swims of the season came at the Minnesota Invite. He kicked things off with a 200 free PB of 1:33.45 leading off in the 800 free relay. That was nearly a second drop. After going a 4:21.10 in the 500 free prelims, he added in the final. He undercut his 200 free PB with a 1:33.43 in the individual final. He was a solid 1:41.40 in his 200 back prelims before dropping a PB of 1:40.23 in the final, taking second to Destin Lasco. He also clocked a 42.99 100 free leading off in the 400 free relay.
He bettered his 500 free season-best to a 4:20.37 to win against Arizona. He was Swift the next day against ASU clocking a 1:33.75 200 free and a 1:40.42 200 back, both just off his PBs.
Jones’ PAC-12s started off well, with him clocking a 1:32.49 200 free relay split on say 1. On day 2, he clocked a season-best 4:19.28 in prelims. Ie destroyed his PB in the winals with a 4:13.73 to win the “B” final with a time that would have placed 4th in the “A” final. He skirted into the 200 free “A” final with a 1:33.67 but added and placed 8th in the final with a 1:35.29.
His 200 back was a similar story to his 500 free. Jones was 10th in prelims with a 1:41.96 before winning the “B” final with a 1:39.18. That was a PB by over a second and would have taken 3rd in the “A” final. He then clocked a 42.47 100 free relay anchor.
Jones’s NCAAs started off rocky, missing the 500 free final with 4:18.66 for 39th. He bounced back the next morning with a huge 1:32.13 200 free PB for 15th. In the final, he added to 1:34.91 and finished 16th. His big swim came in the 200 back. He was 9th out of prelims with a 1:38.60, a PB. Jone improved more to a 1:38.36 in the “B” final but fell one place to 10th.
National/International Swimming
2020(1) US Olympic Team Trials (Omaha, Nebraska)
Jones’s highest finish came in the 400 IM, where he posted a 4:29.88 for 33rd. He was also 43rd in the 200 back (2:04.47) and 48th in the 100 back (56.21).
2022 US International Team Trials (Greensboro, North Carolina)
Jones’s biggest swim came in the 200 Back. He was 6th out of prelims with a 1:58.30, a big PB. He was even better in the final with a 1:57.91 to maintain seed. That moved him to the top-10 in the 17-18 NAG rankings. Jones also had a good 200 free, posting a 1:50.56 in prelims before placing 21st in the final. He was also 20th in the 400 free final with a 3:56.70. That 200 back swim qualified him for 2022 Junior Pan Pacs.
2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships (Honolulu, Hawaii)
In the 200 back prelims, Jones dominated his heat and took 2nd seed with a 1:58.75. In the final, Jones had a good race for 2nd with Josh Zuchowski. The two were near even at the 150 but Zuchowski outsplit Jones by a fair bit on the final 50 and Jones touched 3rd in a 1:58.98. In the 100 back prelims earlier in the meet, Jones took 3rd in prelims with a 55.61 as part of a USA 1-2-3-4 but because of country limits, he was relegated to the “B” final. He made the most of his 2nd swim, resetting his PB with a 55.18 for 9th.
2023 International Ice Swimming World Championships (Samoëns, France)
Beginning Jan. 9, Jones and nearly 500 other swimmers from more than 40 nations descended upon the tiny commune of Samoëns, which has a population of fewer than 3,000 residents for the 5th International Ice Swimming World Championships. In ice swimming, the swimmers compete in sub-40 degree temperatures with only a bathing suit, cap, and goggles allowed. It’s the biggest World Championships since the inception of the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) in 2009.
Jones’ coach Joe Zemaitis was also a part of the US contingent. Zemaitis had more experience with the extreme sport, having completed his first ice mile in 2019. He had also been working to grow ice swimming nationally as the chairman of IISA USA with the goal of hopefully gaining Olympic inclusion in the future.
Jones practiced in his backyard pool in the leadup to the meet. “Luckily Arizona has had a colder winter and my pool at home is in the 40s,” Jones said. “I spend three minutes a day, twice a day, swimming in my backyard pool. In this instance, it is not a concern about the actual swimming, but instead is about controlling one’s breath and trying to minimize the gasp reflex.”
The “pool” at the World Championships is often man-made in a frozen lake with individual ladders for each athlete. The meet still uses electronic timing and has all the trappings of a world championship event. But each racer begins in the water with one hand on the wall and swimmers must break the surface before five meters. Every turn is an open turn as flip turns risk orientation loss and lightheadedness.
Jones’ preparation involved being medically cleared, a process that included an electrocardiogram, which records the electrical signal from the heart to check for different conditions. As interest in cold water immersion has grown during COVID-19 lockdowns, the IIISA has implemented more rigorous pre-swim medicals and a tighter qualification process.
At the Championships, he became the first American to break an ice swimming world record and did it twice. Jones clocked a 27.93 in the 50-meter backstroke, lowering the previous mark of 29.44 set by Poland’s Slawomir Wilkowki. Jones followed that performance up with another world record in the 100 fly, firing off a 59.36 to edge Poland’s Pawel Bednarczyk by just over a second. Fourteen swimmers in total were under Romain Lethumier’s previous world record of 1:15.23 from a month prior as it was the first time the event was included in the world championships.
2023 Pro Swim Series–Mission Viejo
In a field stacked with college, post-grad, and pro talent, it was Jones who led the way in the 200 back this morning, speeding to an excellent morning swim of 1:58.89. In the final, Jones surprised the field, winning in a new PB of 1:57.04. He also clocked PBs of 25.89 and 54.90 in his 50 and 100 backs.
2023 US International Team Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Jones was on point, clocking PBs in every event. He opened things up with a 50.05 100 free for 45ht on day 1. His big swim came on day 2. He made it back 5th in the 200 back, crushing a 1:57.00. He was even better in the final, swimming a 1:56.93 for 6th. He later won the “D” final of the 200 back with a 54.34.
2023 World University Games (Chengdu, China)
With USA Swimming opting not to field a team to the event, the opportunity for current collegiate swimmers to compete for their country opened up, with the coaching staff put together by the United States International University Sports Federation (US-IUSF) having recruited athletes. Jones, then an incoming freshman, was among the 32-strong roster initially announced.
On the first day, Jones moved through the 100 back prelims in 5th with a 54.72. He improved to a 54.36, a mere .02 off his PB, for 4th in semis. He also clocked a 48.82 100 free relay split to help the US team to a 5th place finish in the 400 free relay.
The next morning, he tried out the 200 free, dipping under 1:50 for the first time with a 1:49.95 for 3rd out of prelims. He finished 5th in the 100 back final with a 54.42. He was 8th in the 200 free semi that night as well, setting another PB with a 1:49.66. He continued to improve, posting a 1:49.28 in the final for 6th.
Jones thrived in the 200 back. He was 4th in prelims (2:01.13) and 1st in semis (1:59.29) before crushing a 1:57.66 for gold in the final.
2024 Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions (Mission Viejo, California)
In the leadup to trials, jones showed he was business, clocking PBs in the 100 free (49.59), 100 back (54.31), and, most importantly, the 200 back (1:56.79).
2024 US Olympic Team Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Jones got a good rep in the 200 free prelims with a PB of 1:48.23. He only contested the 200 back after that. He moved through prelims in 2nd with a 1:57.52. Jones had a massive swim in the semis, posting the top time with a 1:55.49. That was a 1.3 second drop. In the final, it was Jones’ training partner and backstroke stalwart Ryan Murphy who lead wire-to-wire but Jones and Jack Aikins kept it close. Jones was 2nd at the 50 with a 27.11, Aikins moved ahead of Jones as he split 29.11 on the 2nd 50. He stayed close to Aikins with a 29.47 on the 3rd 50 before blasting home in a 28.92, pulling ahead of Aikins to qualify for his first Olympic team with a 1:54.61, another monster PB. That marked the 3rd Olympics where Murphy and another Cal backstroker comprised the US contingent in the men’s 200 back.
