14-year old Keaton Jones of Swim Neptune in Arizona has broken the 13-14 National Age Group Record in the 200 meter backstroke. While traditionally October is the start of short course season in the United States, Swim Neptune held a long course meet in Chandler.
Jones swam a 2:00.28 at the meet, which broke the 2:00.97 that was set by Josh Zuchowski earlier this year. Zuchowski’s swim broke the old record by almost 2 seconds. The record that he broke was 20 years old and set by Olympic gold medalist Aaron Peirsol in 1998.
Jones hit his Olympic Trials cut earlier this summer at the Arizona Long Course Age Group State Championship meet when he swam 2:01.20, and took one last shot at the record before aging up – this was his last meet before his birthday.
All-Time Top 10 13-14 Boys in U.S. History: 200 LCM Backstroke:
- 2:00.28, Keaton Jones, 2019
- 2:00.97, Josh Zuchowski, 2019
- 2:02.78, Aaron Peirsol, 1998
- 2:02.86, Ryan Murphy, 2010
- 2:03.28, Destin Lasco, 2016
- 2:04.06, Michael Andrew, 2014
- 2:04.30, Braeden Haughey, 2018
- 2:04.47, Harrison Lierz, 2017
- 2:04.87, Benjamin Ho, 2013
- 2:05.26, Matthew Fenlon, 2017
At the same meet, Jones swam a 2:09.93 in the 200 IM.
Below is a video of Jones’ 2:01.2 Olympic Trials cut from this summer:
When you go 3 seconds faster than Destin Lasco then you must be pretty special.
Congrats. That’s a very impressive performance. Especially in October.
I recall Rick Carey going a 2:04 in the 200M Back when he was 14. John Collins (Badger Swim Club) help me out here!
Lookin’ pretty tall
Could these guys be the backstroking future of the U.S.? Great job!
Wow mans was coming up at the flags off his walls lol. Crazy he almost went 1:59 with non-existent underwaters
when I was his age, it was FACT that breathing every stroke in a fly event would slow you down. Maybe this is similar?
Some people have great underwaters and other people don’t. If you’re under waters are slower than your swimming then it’s not really worth doing them. It could be that he also needs a little more strength in order for him to be efficient at them. He looks pretty tall too, not fully filled out yet. In my experience, taller, lankier individuals often times have a more difficult time keeping the body connected through the entirety of the undulation.
Agreed — he may not have the strength yet to go faster underwater. This is normal for a 14 year old. Watch out for him as he grows older!
It’s an interesting discussion for age group coaching. I’m not a coach, just a swammer, and I’m just now getting back into the sport as a fan after many years away… Does a great age group coach train their athlete to swim as fast as they can “right now” or follow the blueprint for what elite athletes are generally doing and wait for the athlete to grow into those techniques. I can honestly see it both ways.
I think for an athlete like this it is important to just keep them happy with the sport. Being a star can lead to a lot of pressure, press, expectations. All that is good for someone who is a mature college athlete but for a young athlete it can have adverse effects. Keep the kid happy and loving the sport is what I would do If I were his coach.
based on the info in the article (bday, LC meet in Oct), I imagine the record was a goal marked out long ago. IMO, that is a great coaching and leading. congrats to a great swimmer, great coach, and great swim family!