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Steven Bendoraitis, a distance freestyler and Winter U.S. Open finalist, has announced his verbal commitment to Purdue University for the fall of 2023.
“I am beyond thrilled to announce my commitment to Purdue University to continue my academic and athletic career! I want to thank my coaches and teammates at Scarlet aquatics, friends, and family. I am extremely excited for the next chapter in my life!! BOILER UP!!🚂”
Bendoraitis trains with Scarlet Aquatic Club alongside his twin brother Matt and his older sister Kathleen who will also be swimming Division I in the NCAA. She has committed to the University of Maine for the fall of 2022. Steven is entering his senior year at New Milford High School in northern New Jersey.
At the 2021 Winter U.S. Open, he made the 400 freestyle final where he placed 18th. He recently swam lifetime best times to win the 500 free and 1000 free at the 13&Over Junior Olympics in March. His 200 freestyle best time is also from this year; he won the 200 free at the Bergen Meet of Champions in January. He currently has Winter U.S. Open times in the 1000 free and 1650 free and a Winter Juniors cut in the 500 free.
Top SCY times:
- 1650 free – 15:17.44
- 1000 free – 9:08.65
- 500 free – 4:29.22
- 200 free – 1:40.75
Bendoraitis made huge time drops in the 1650 free in 2021, going from his previous lifetime best time of 15:58.76 straight to a 15:35.08 in March and then lowering that to a 15:17.44 that December.
His fastest 1650 free time would have placed him 14th at the 2022 Big Ten Conference Championships which would be the Boilermakers’ best finish in the event since the 2018 Big Ten Championships where Nicholas McDowell placed 13th. Bendoraitis leading Purdue’s distance group will have an even larger impact since they had no swimmers entered in the 1650 free at last year’s championships. His best times also would have put him on the verge of making the 200 free and 500 free C finals last season in 27th place.
Purdue men are coming off a 5th place finish at the 2022 Big Ten Conference Championships under head coach Dan Ross. There, Bendoraitis would have been Purdue’s second-fastest 500 freestyler behind rising junior Ethan Shaw who placed 26th. The Boilermakers had a strong 200 freestyle training group led by 2022 Big Ten Conference Championships ‘A’ finalist Nick Sherman who graduated after last season. Now, ‘C’ finalist Keelan Hart leads that squad.
Bendoraitis joins Mason Kajfosz, Sam White, Brody Friend, and AJ Robertson in Purdue’s class of 2023 verbal commitments.
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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