2019-20 Georgia Tech Everyday Champions Issue #3

PUMPUTIS GETS INTO “BEAST MODE” ONCE HE GETS ON THE BLOCK AND RACES FEARLESSLY. A PRIME EXAMPLE CAME LAST DEC. 5 AT THE 2019 TOYOTA U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS AT MCAULEY AQUATIC CENTER, WHEN HE FOUND HIMSELF SANDWICHED BETWEEN U.S. OLYMPIANS RYAN LOCHTE, A SIX-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST, AND CHASE KALISZ, AN OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST AND TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION, IN HIS HEAT OF THE 200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY.

those guys was really important for me. I wasn’t intimidated at all. I just wanted to beat them. It didn’t happen, but I’ll try next time.” Pumputis has used that approach to ascend ever since arriving in Atlanta. As a freshman, in a new country, adjusting to communicating in English, plus dealing with the Georgia Tech curriculum and short-course swimming (25-meter pools vs. 50 meters), Caio recorded top-10 times in 10 events, hitting Tech’s all-time top 10 in five of them. At the ACC Championship, he was top-10 in the 200 breast (1:53.45, second), 200 freestyle (1:34.90, ninth), 800 free relay (sixth), 400 medley relay (sixth), 400 free relay (seventh) and 200 free relay (ninth). He then got a taste of the NCAA Championships, competing in the 100 breast (53.53, 34th) and 200 IM (1:45.54, 36th). He also earned All-ACC Academic honors. He improved as a sophomore, finishing with 21 top-10 times in 15 different events, setting or being part of six school records (100-, 200 breast, 200 IM, 100-, 200 free relay, 200-, 400 medley relay). At the ACC Championship, he won the 200 breast in school- and meet- record time (1:51.46), then set a school record in winning the 200 IM (1:41.28). He also was part of the program-record-setting 800 freestyle relay (6:19.43, 5.8 seconds faster than the previous mark). He continued to roll in his second NCAAs, making school history by becoming the first Yellow Jacket swimmer to earn All-America status in three events -- the 100 breast (51.38, sixth), 200 breast (1.50.79, fourth) and 200 IM (1:41.04, sixth). He entered his junior year with his name attached to school records in six events

Already one of the most accomplished swimmers in Tech history, Pumputis is working to take it a step further, compete in the 2020 Olympics.

you the last 15 meters of a race, I have never seen somebody who just puts his head down and grinds it to the wall. He does not want to lose, and that is an awesome attribute to have.” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an athlete that committed and that determined like him,” said first-year Tech assistant coach and countryman Francisco “Chico” Rego, who has trained more than a dozen world and national champions, including 2016 Olympic gold medalist Kevin Cordes and silver medalist Marcelo Chierighini. “He’s someone that you look at like, ‘That guy’s different.’ He’s not like your common student-athlete, or your common swimmer. In the water or in the weight room, he’s a beast.” Pumputis gets into “beast mode” once he gets on the block and races fearlessly. A prime example came last Dec. 5 at the 2019 Toyota U.S. Open Championships at McAuley Aquatic Center, when he found himself sandwiched between U.S. Olympians Ryan Lochte, a six-time Olympic gold medalist, and Chase Kalisz, an Olympic silver medalist and two-time world champion, in his heat of the 200 individual medley. He doesn’t back down against elite competition. He gets his back up. “I like to race when people are faster than me, because it’s motivation,” said Pumputis, who finished eighth, but nearly topped his school record. “You know you’re not the best, and you know that you can push yourself, you can improve and get faster. So being in the heat with

HE DOESN’T BACK DOWN AGAINST ELITE

COMPETITION. HE GETS HIS BACK UP.

WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM   7