Sixth Show: Chase Kalisz Rides Consistency to Record-Tying World Champs Appearance
It had been a full decade, 10 years and two days, since Chase Kalisz secured a spot on his first World Championships team. At the 2013 Nationals in Indianapolis, Kalisz executed the medley strategy that would become his signature, trailing the field for the majority of the race before catching and overtaking the field on breaststroke. His time that day was 4:11.83, 2.79 seconds ahead of second-place finishee Tyler Clary. One month later, Kalisz broke 4:10 for the first time as he took World Championships silver in Barcelona.
Again and again over the years, Kalisz would find his way to represent the U.S. in major competition, occasionally in the 200 IM but always in the 400 IM. After his 2013 Worlds silver, he won bronze in 2015 and then Olympic silver in 2016, chasing Kosuke Hagino for gold but ending up just behind. One year after that, Kalisz beat the field at the 2017 World Championships by almost two seconds, swimming a time of 4:05.90 that made him the third-fastest man in history at that point behind the duo of Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.
Kalisz had an off-meet at the 2019 Worlds, missing the final after struggling with injuries, but he returned in 2021 to outduel the field for his long-awaited Olympic gold medal. His time, 4:09.42, was nothing special by his standard, and in fact, Australia’s Brendon Smith had been even faster in prelims. But gold was gold, and at age 27, Kalisz hinted in Tokyo that it might be the end of the line for him in the 400 IM. After the near-perfect conclusion, who could blame him for giving up the grueling event?
But as the world reassembled in Budapest in June 2022, there was Kalisz racing the 400 IM. And Kalisz once again reached the podium. He finished in 4:07.47, two seconds quicker than his golden effort from the Olympics, and he won bronze behind huge personal bests from Leon Marchand and American teammate Carson Foster. In the aftermath, Kalisz declared that Foster was the future in the event before admitting that he shocked himself with his own performance.
Now, another year, another qualifying meet, another spot on the team for Kalisz.
In the 400 IM final Thursday evening at U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Kalisz again placed second in the 400 IM. He swam in second place for most of the race, but he surged on the breaststroke leg and overtake Foster, although Foster ended up regaining the advantage on freestyle to edge out Kalisz at the finish. Still, Kalisz finished in 4:08.22, the seventh-best mark of his career, and he is heading to Fukuoka next month. Kalisz will be a medal contender at that meet as he currently ranks fourth in the world behind Marchand, Daiya Seto and Foster.
The result puts Kalisz onto his sixth World Championships team, putting him into a tie for most all-time Worlds teams among Americans. He joins a list that includes Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin, Ryan Lochte, Elizabeth Beisel and Nathan Adrian, with Katie Ledecky also joining those lofty ranks this week. That group represents some of the best that American swimming has ever produced, so Kalisz finds himself in good company.
“I’m very proud of my longevity in the sport,” Kalisz said. “It’s not an easy thing, especially in the U.S. I don’t know if I would have ever predicted that I would have gone this long, especially doing the 400 IM from when I first started. I’m really proud of how everything’s going. There were a lot of ups-and-downs for me this year with my transition back to Bob (Bowman), and there’s a lot that we need to learn and figure out for next year.”
Bobby Finke, Chase Kalisz and Carson Foster after the men’s 400 IM final at U.S. Nationals — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Even though the results of making international teams year after year have been so consistent, Kalisz has had to make adjustments to maintain his level, particularly as a 29-year-old still racing the grueling 400 IM. Kalisz moved to Tempe, Ariz., this season to reunite with Bowman, who coached him during his high school years at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club and at various points after, including the 2015-16 season when Kalisz took a redshirt year from the University of Georgia.
During that year leading up to his first Olympics, Kalisz was nearly perfect. “We can think of one day that I had a subpar practice,” Kalisz said. Now, though, Kalisz is swimming as much or more yardage than he ever has, and sometimes, he cannot recover quickly enough. He recalled a stretch of 62 consecutive days during this season when he spent 45 minutes in the sauna after practice and then immediately jumped into the cold tub “just to be able to wake up the next morning and go to practice.”
But Kalisz is willing and even eager for the mega-volume right now. He has already accomplished the goal of Olympic champion for which he had been aiming for so long, but rather than make him question why he was still swimming or training so hard, the fulfillment of his goals implored him to push forward. In a twist from the normal narrative of elite swimmers, the success was invigorating.
“Aerobic fitness is pretty undefeated, especially in the races I swim, so I really have no quarrel with it. If it was two years ago, I’d probably be kicking and screaming every single part of the way, but things are just different for me at this point. The culmination of being a world champion and getting my Olympic gold the last Olympics, that really signified me checking off all of my major bucket-list of things,” Kalisz said.
“Personally, I can go into practice every single day very content, and everything’s kind of a bonus at this point. I still want to be the best I can. My goal with Bob is to swim as fast as I ever have, and we work every day toward it. There’s a long way I need to go, but I’m fine with the yardage right now. I think I’m in the right place that I need to be right now.”
Kalisz proclaimed that he aspires to swim faster than ever before, and given his renewed and refreshing attitude toward the sport and the requirements to be successful, that’s an achievable goal, even at an age when few elite swimmers and even fewer 400 IMers are still going strong. Even Phelps and Lochte did not race the event internationally at this age. Give Kalisz credit for continuing the pursuit.
And his presence has been important for his successor as top American in the 400 IM, Foster. Kalisz has provided support for Foster during tough moments, even after Kalisz and Jay Litherland ran down Foster in the 400 IM final at the 2021 Olympic Trials to claim the two spots at the Olympics.
“I want to be like Chase,” Foster said. “His consistency in the race has been incredible. Not to get too sappy, but he has been a huge part of my improvement and me getting over some of my mental barriers in that race. For me, it felt like people wanted me to do bad in big races, and Chase reassured me that it wasn’t the case and that people wanted me to take over that race like he has the past 10 years. ”
Sure, Kalisz lacks the tremendous gold-medal tallies of some of his American brethren, but his consistency over a decade in an event as challenging as the 400 IM is almost unheard of and immensely worthy of respect.
