Top Lithuanian Junior Sprinter Jokūbas Keblys Commits to Florida State for 2022

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Lithuanian swimmer Jokūbas Keblys has verbally committed to Florida State University. He is expected to arrive in the fall of 2022.

I am super excited to announce my verbal commitment to Florida State University! I believe that I will be able to achieve great things with FSU in both swimming and academics. I can’t wait to see what heights I can reach with FSU! GO NOLES!

Keblys has represented his country internationally at multiple junior and age group events, including most prominently in 2019 the European Junior and World Junior Swimming Championships.

At the European Junior Championships, he finished 22nd in the 50 meter free (23.55) and 35th in the 100 meter free (51.61), but his focus meet was the World Junior Championships where he qualified for the semifinals of the 50 free and ultimately placed 9th in 22.81.

He is currently his country’s #2 male 50 freestyler behind only another swimmer who came to the US to train in college, at NC State, Simonas Bilis. In 2019, he ranked 5th in the country in the 100 free, though Lithuania does not yet have a 400 free relay qualified for the Olympic Games.

Keblys will be 20 when he begins his collegiate career at Florida State.

Keblys’ best times in long course meters, short course meters and converted to yards:

Keblys holds 2 Lithuanian Age Group Records. In 2019, he broke the 16-and-younger national marks for both the 50 free (22.69) and 100 free (49.60) in short course meters.

He doesn’t have a clear-cut contributing 3rd event yet, but the 200 free right now looks like the most likely candidate for that.

Florida State has built one of the country’s best sprint groups in the country since Neal Studd took over the program in 2016. Last year, their 82 points in the 50 free at the ACC Championships were the most in the conference, ahead of even the renowned sprint group from NC State. NC State were also the ACC Champions in the 200 free relay – on a relay with 1 freshman, 2 sophomores, and 1 senior.

Much of that sprint depth has been built on international recruiting. For example, of that 200 free relay last season, Max McCusker, Peter Varjasi, and Jakub Ksiazek are all foreign athletes, while Griffin Alaniz is an American.

Given the youth in their sprint group, the team’s recruiting in the classes of 2021 and 2022 have generally focused on other areas so far. Keblys is the team’s 3rd commitment in the class of 2022 specifically, joining breaststroker Jaydon Cunningham, versatile IMer Utku Kurtdere from Turkey, and Slovenian distance freestyler Jaka Pusnik.

This is the team’s 2nd Lithuanian addition in 2 classes: Arijus Pavlidi is expected to join the team in the fall of 2021.

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