This Badger shot putter tossed the longest throw in the country

Here we go.

As the No. 1 ranked shot putter in college track and field — No. 10 in the world — University of Wisconsin senior Jason Swarens wanted to be perfectly clear about one thing.

He isn’t a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, despite incorporating quarterback Dak Prescott’s “Here we go" cadence into his pre-toss routine to fire up the crowd, and himself.

“Jason is a little bit more eccentric on competition day," conceded UW assistant coach Dave Astrauskas, who has been in charge of the throwers for 16 seasons.

Whatever he’s doing, it obviously works. Swarens recently uncorked a throw of 70 feet, 1.5 inches (21.37 meters) in a home meet at the McClimon Track Complex.

Not only did it break his own school record from 2023, but it’s the longest throw in the country this spring — an impressive 2.5 feet longer than anybody else has thrown so far.

The five longest throws belong to Swarens, Mississippi’s Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, Arizona’s Zach Landa, Arizona State’s Brandon Lloyd and Wisconsin’s Joseph White.

Swarens and White are roommates. In combination with Andrew Stone and Kyle Clabough, the Badgers are ranked No. 1 nationally among shot put “squads" or foursomes.

“I’m proud of the way they train and compete," Astrauskas said of the group. “They all realize that they need each other to reach the status that they’re achieving here."

The 70-foot-plus throw puts Swarens in select company. World class company. There are only 20 throwers in NCAA history to have thrown the 16-pound shot over 70 feet.

“Oh, man, that has been a goal of mine for a long time," gushed the 23-year-old Swarens. “I’m still comprehending it.… It was super exciting when it happened."

He has come very close to reaching that plateau before.

At the 2024 NCAA outdoor meet, Robinson-O’Hagan won the shot put with a best throw of 68 feet, 6 inches. Swarens finished second. His best was 66 feet, 10 ¼ inches.

“But in warmups, I had a throw that was about 21 meters, or just under 70 feet," Swarens said. “I knew last year after outdoor nationals I could put one together."

Astrauskas and other coaches reinforced that thinking. “So, I knew it was just a matter of lining one up at a meet," reasoned Swarens. “Why not do it at a home meet?"

In addition to Swarens’ record-setting toss at the May 2 Badger Challenge meet, White had a personal best throw of 66 feet, 8 ½ inches — the fifth longest in the nation.

White, a graduate senior from Kenosha, also broke the school record in the discus (203 feet, 8 inches). The Swarens-White union has been beneficial to both throwers.

When they’re not pushing each other in the ring or the weight room, they’re competing in board games, namely Catan, at their apartment.

“They’re good for each other," said Astrauskas, noting that White was a transfer from Carthage College, where he came under the throwing guidance of assistant Greg Raimondi.

“I’ve got to be honest, he (Raimondi) is the one who baked the cake. I’m just putting the icing on it. Joseph is really thriving here."

In retrospect, it took a few years for Swarens to thrive, even though he was the 2020 Indiana Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year at Terre Haute South Vigo High School.

As a freshman, his best throw in the shot put was 55 feet. The following year, he redshirted while still in the midst of transitioning to a totally different throwing technique.

As a prep, he was a glider. “A very linear approach," Astrauskas explained. “You start with your back to the sector and basically drive off your right foot, turn and throw."

At Wisconsin, Swarens converted to the spin or rotational technique — rotating in circles like a discus thrower in which Swarens had some limited experience.

“For two years, I was like, ‘Is this crazy? I can’t believe I’m doing the rotation. I think I can throw farther with the glide,'" Swarens recounted. “But I stuck with it."

Astrauskas was patient, knowing such a transition often takes a couple of years before the thrower feels comfortable and confident with the shot-put technique.

“We had some times where we said, ‘Are we going to get this figured out or not?'" Astrauskas said. “But we both kind of battled through. It was definitely the right decision."

Looking back on Swarens' 2021 redshirt season, he acknowledged, “That gave us time to really fine-tune the rotational technique. It bought us some time to figure it all out."

In growing more comfortable with his rebooted style, Swarens remembered thinking “This is starting to work out" when he qualified for the 2023 NCAA Outdoor meet.

“That year, I didn’t make indoor nationals, but I made the outdoor nationals for the first time in Austin, Texas," he said. “I didn’t make the finals. But I was glad to be there."

It wasn’t long before Swarens was making some noise in the shot-put ring. He was fourth at the 2024 NCAA indoor meet before his runner-up finish outdoors in Eugene, Oregon.

Engaging the crowd

Engaging the crowd became a part of Swarens’ pre-throw routine last year.

“Jason likes to be in the spotlight," Astrauskas said, “and he likes to start a flow clap every time he begins to throw. He’ll get the crowd into helping him out.

“He’ll say something like ‘Here we go' and he’ll start this slow clap, so basically the whole (shot put) area or stadium is clapping for him on his throw."

The “Here we go" was taken from Prescott’s pre-snap cadence with the Cowboys.

“I’d get the crowd clapping and then they’d speed up as I’d go through my throw," Swarens said. “I’ll usually start with the first throw of the finals. It’s fun to do."

Make no mistake, Swarens roots for the Packers, not the Cowboys. His mom’s side of the family is from Wisconsin. Which is why he says, “I always wanted to be a Badger."

In March, Swarens won the Big Ten indoor shot-put championship back home in Indiana (Indianapolis) with what was a personal best throw of 66 feet, 5 inches (20.24m).

Without an indoor track facility on campus, the throwers trained on the artificial surface in the McClain Center this winter — sharing it with football, soccer and softball.

At the 2025 NCAA indoor meet, Swarens had a toss of 66 feet, 11 inches and finished in third place behind Robinson-O’Hagan and South Carolina’s Christopher Licata.

Robinson-O’Hagan has been the pacesetter in the event. Through his own individual success, he has been motivating others, including Swarens.

Whenever Swarens thinks about winning a national championship in the shot put, he admitted, “I know the road to winning that is beating him. He’s in the way, basically."

Looking ahead to the competition

No matter the size of the challenge, a competitive field is good for everyone from the standpoint of getting the best out of them from the lead dog at the head of the pack.

“Any time you have someone that kind of has your number, it makes you work harder and really look at what you’re doing and your effort levels," Astrauskas said.

“It’s good to have someone out in front of you. This past week, the main reason that Jason hit that 70-foot throw was Joseph White putting the pressure on right away."

Before Swarens can seriously start thinking about Robinson-O’Hagan …

First things first. The Big Ten outdoor meet will take place May 16-18 in Eugene at the University of Oregon, also the site of the NCAA tournament (June 11-14).

“Jason typically throws very well in Oregon," Astrauskas said. “He’s got quite a bit ahead of him. But the end goal is to get to the NCAA finals and see what we can do."

The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are obviously on the horizon for anyone seeking an extended career in the sport and, in this case, the shot put discipline.

“After college, I want to keep throwing and go to LA in ’28," said Swarens, a mechanical engineering grad. “It would be cool to represent Team USA on home turf."

Astrauskas, all business, interjected, “We’ve talked very little about it. Our focus now is the NCAA season. If you perform well there, the other stuff will take of itself."

But he likes where Swarens is. Particularly coming off that 70-footer.

“Right now, he’s very confident," Astrauskas said. “He knows the positions that he needs to execute in the ring and it’s starting to become a system.

“He understands exactly what he needs to do. His confidence is high."

Here we go.