Rex Maurer, Kayla Han Record Strong 400 IM Performances at Speedo Summer Championships
On the second evening of racing at the Speedo Summer Championships in Irvine, Calif., Rex Maurer and Kayla Han each swam exceptional performances in the 400 IM. Maurer posted a time which would have placed fourth at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month while Han bounced back after just missing the final of the event at Trials.
Maurer posted a best time by three tenths in prelims, and then he knocked another five-and-a-half seconds from his best time at night, touching in 4:13.17. Only Carson Foster, Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland eclipsed that time at Trials. Maurer began his college career at Stanford but will begin competing for the University of Texas this fall. Michigan’s Ryan Healy took second in 4:18.94 while Swim Atlanta’s Jake Magahey was third (4:19.69).
Kayla Han was 10th at Trials in the 400 IM but did swim one final in Indianapolis in the 400 freestyle. Han overtook the University of Michigan’s Hannah Bellard on the breaststroke leg and held on down the stretch to finish in 4:43.09, less than one second off her best time. Bellard dropped more than a second as she finished in 4:43.27, and in the battle for third place, Scarlet Aquatics’ Chloe Kim overtook Indiana’s Reese Tiltmann for third, 4:47.50 to 4:47.63.
After not making any semifinals or finals at Olympic Trials, Tokyo Olympian Bella Sims returned to evening action here as she swam the 100 free. She finished hard but ended up taking second as Indiana’s Kristina Paegle won in 54.78, with Sims touching four hundredths ahead of Liberty Clark, 55.19 to 55.23.
In the men’s event, Grant House pulled away from former Arizona State training partner Owen McDonald down the stretch. House won in 48.63, followed by McDonald, now at Indiana, in 48.92, while Dylan Smiley made it a Hoosier 2-3 finish as he came in at 49.25.
Michigan’s team of Kathryn Shanley, Malia Amuan, Madison Smith and Bellard won the women’s 800 free relay in 8:10.69, while their male teammates, with a squad consisting of Ozan Kalafat, Colin Geer, Jack Wilkening and Healy, touched first in 7:21.06.
Forty-six American swimmers qualified to represent the Stars and Stripes at the Paris Olympics, and for those who did not qualify, USA Swimming is offering this summer championship meet that takes the place of a usual late-July/early-August Nationals and Junior Nationals. On day one, Trenton Julian won a mark the 200 butterfly in a mark that would have qualified for the Olympic team, and the meet runs through Saturday, July 27.