Ryan Murphy, Keaton Jones Finish 1-2 in 200 Backstroke at Trials

Two Cal swimmers from different age groups are heading to Olympics in this backstroke event

Keaton Jones and Ryan Murphy celebrate after competing in the 200-meter backstroke final / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY

Nearly a decade separates the ages of former Cal swimmer Ryan Murphy and Golden Bears freshman Keaton Jones, but they looked similar on Thursday night in the U.S. swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.

Murphy, who won two Olympic gold medals in 2016 and will turn 29 years old in a few days, won the 200-meter backstroke finals in a time of 1:54.33. Finishing second, just 0.28 of a second behind Murphy, was 19-year-old Jones, who just completed his freshman year at Cal. 

The top two finishers in each event traditionally qualify to compete in the Olympics, so Murphy and Jones will be carrying the America’s chances for medals in the 200 backstroke in Paris.  Murphy won the 100-meter backstroke earlier in the trials, so he will be bidding for Olympic medals in both events.

He won both the 100 and 200 backstroke in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and added third gold medal in the 4x100 medley. However, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021), Murphy placed second in the 200 backstroke and third in the 100 backstroke.  He later made headlines for comments he made after being asked about potential doping among swimmers

"It is what it is. I try not to get caught up in that. It is a huge mental drain on me to go throughout the year, that I am swimming in a race that's probably not clean and that is what it is," he said.

At a later news conference, Murphy said he was only addressing doping in swimming in general and congratulated Evgeny Rylov and British bronze medal winner Luke Greenback.

"I need to be clear, I've never made . . .  , my intention is not to make any allegations here. Like, congratulations to Luke and Evgeny. They did an incredible job, they're both very talented swimmers," he said.

Now Murphy will head to Paris with a chance for more medals, and he will no doubt be asked about doping in swimming, which has become an issue again.

Jones, who had the best qualifying time in the semifinal heats, was 11 years old when Murphy won his first Olympic gold medal.

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