Men’s 400 IM Final as reported by Morgan Priestley
Showing no signs of wear after his preliminary battle with Connor Signorin, Georgia freshman Chase Kalisz used an impressive back-half to pull away from the field, winning with a 3:39.82. Kalisz, who trained with North Baltimore Aquatic Club this fall prior to arriving at Athens for the spring semester, showed patience through his first 200 yards before dropping the hammer on the field with an even-split breaststroke leg (30.23-30.33 for a 1:00.56) and strong freestyle (51.09). This is a well-practiced race strategy to Kalisz, who finished 6th at Olympic Trials this summer, and looks to step into the 400 IM void left by the retirement of Ryan Lochte and former training partner Michael Phelps. Kalisz’s time is the fastest swim in the country this year by well over a second.
Dan Wallace, one of four Gators in the heat, pushed the pace early to lead at the 200 mark, and held on to finish 2nd in 3:41.95, giving him the 4th fastest time in the country so far this year. That’s a big drop (his previous best was 3:44), and is a sign of good things to come for the rest of the season for him. Another Georgia freshman, Ty Stewart (3:43.91), fought neck-and-neck with Gator teammates Carlos Omana (3:44.04), Signorin (3:44.14), and Matt Elliott (3:44.33) to claim 3rd (just 0.03 off the NCAA ‘A’ standard). With the new NCAA qualifying procedures, those times should make NCAAs.Jared Markham (3:45.89) and Jordan Jones (3:47.48).
In the B-Final, Eduardo Solaeche Gomez (Florida) out-touched Tristan Slater (Tennessee) by seven one-hundredths to win in 3:45.68.
Chase Kalisz was in 4.12 in long course last year so it’s anything but surprising he swims 3.39 in SCY. He will probably approach the NCAA record next month and will destroy it in the next years.