From breaking records to NCAA championship qualifications, Felix Jedbratt elevated La Salle swimming

When Felix Jedbratt was a toddler, he accidentally fell in a pool. His mother shrieked in panic as she tried to grab him, then her son began to float.

Looking back, he says it set the stage for where he is now.

Jedbratt, a native of Gothenburg, Sweden, recently capped his collegiate swimming career at La Salle by qualifying for the NCAA championships in 2025 and 2026. His appearance last season, in which he competed in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly, marked the first time a La Salle swimmer had advanced to nationals since 1992.

This year, he qualified in the 50-yard free, 100-yard fly, and the 200-yard fly. He didn’t medal, but he finished with a personal best of 1 minute, 41.26 seconds in the 200-yard fly.

“Last year was sort of my breakout year, where I really nailed everything and I managed to qualify for the NCAA [championships], which was a huge achievement for the school and personally for me,” Jedbratt said. “I’ve been looking up to these guys that are swimming there for like so long. Finally being able to go and see how they race in real life and see, because it’s arguably the most competitive competition in the world, when you look at swimming, seeing all those guys was amazing.”

Jedbratt plans to remain close to the water. He’s traveling back to Sweden, where he will train with the Swedish national team for the next two years, as he looks to compete for a spot on the 2028 Olympic team.

“I’ve learned invaluable stuff here, about life, about how I am as a person,” he said. “This place will always have such a big place in my heart.”

Jedbratt grew up practicing swimming with his father, JJ, who played water polo.

JJ would race Felix as he got older, and if he could beat his father, JJ promised to buy his son a LEGO set, according to Jedbratt.

He eventually won. The prize? A Star Wars Death Star LEGO set.

“He would be like, ‘If you beat me in a 50-yard freestyle I will give you the Death Star LEGO Star Wars. I was like, ‘Bet let me lock in.’ And then I did it,” Jedbratt said. “In the first place, [swimming] was a playful thing that I started doing and I tried to combine it with soccer.

“It got to a point where my soccer coaches, when I came to soccer practice, they would just be like, ‘How’s swimming going?’ That’s when I was like, I should probably pick swimming. There’s a lot of potential here. So I stuck with swimming.”

While swimming in Sweden, Jedbratt aspired to swim competitively in the United States. Despite a number of college coaches reaching out to him, he only spoke to a handful.

Then he met Kerry Smith, La Salle’s coach.

Smith has helped build Jedbratt’s confidence over the past four years. She’s worked with him to develop his endurance and push him beyond his limits.

“This summer, we had kids that were struggling with different things, and he would take time and Zoom with them and talk to them and help mentor,” Smith said. “I’m really going to miss him next year, not just because of the pool aspect, but his leadership.”

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When Jedbratt qualified for the NCAA championships last year, Smith came with him. Their relationship has grown as Jedbratt was Smith’s first swimmer to qualify for the NCAA championships in her five seasons at the helm.

“Bigger schools you have previous seniors, previous juniors, that would show you the way to navigate. Like, ‘OK, it’s a lot of nerves. This is usually how it goes. People swim really fast in the finals,’” Jedbratt said. “They manage your stress in a way that is comfortable while with Coach Kerry and me, we didn’t know what to expect, so we sort of had to figure it out on our own. It made us much closer.”

Competing in the NCAA championships was always Jedbratt’s goal. As a freshman, he idolized Florida swimmer and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Josh Liendo.

Jedbratt began mimicking Liendo’s style with hopes of qualifying for the NCAA championships. He eventually did last season. While at the championships, the two competed against another in the 100-yard free and 100-yard fly.

“It was like seeing an idol,” Jedbratt said. “He’s the NCAA champion from the past four years. So it was really cool to see him. ... when I did the 100-yard fly. The first one you take it out pretty easy. Just because it sort of comes to you like you’re not tired yet, you’re just going off of adrenaline. I had too much adrenaline, so I was just rushing through it a little. Then I was like, ‘OK, calm down,’ I had three more legs. When I hit the wall, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.’”

He placed 18th in the 100-yard fly and was proud of his time (45.02).

Jedbratt broke five program records at the Atlantic 10 championships last season and set conference championship records in the 50-yard free and 100-yard fly. He also medaled in four other races.

That success carried into this season.

The senior picked up 16 first- place finishes and cruised to the NCAA championships, but this time he wasn’t alone. Carter Perkins, a junior on the team, also qualified in the 100-yard free.

Jedbratt struggled in the 50-yard and 100-yard free. During his final race as an Explorer, the 200-yard fly, Jedbratt felt determined to leave on a high note, which is exactly what he did.

“I really wanted to hit my milestone times and not being able to do that in those first two days, I was getting kind of sad and then I was like, ‘OK I have to make it up on this one. I have to go crazy on this one,’” Jedbratt said. “.... I did and it pushed me to to a really good time, even though I opened extremely fast. But that’s part of who I am and what made the race so fun.”

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Jedbratt plans to keep tabs on the Explorers and return as a spectator in the future. While he left his mark on the program, La Salle has helped Jedbratt flourish as a swimmer.

“It’s been such a crazy ride,” he said. “If I’m looking back at who I was as a person when I came here my freshman year to the person I would come here now, it’s such tremendous growth.”