U.S. International Team Trials: Leah Hayes, Katie Grimes Lead the Way in Women’s 400 IM Prelims
In a women’s 400 IM field featuring the Olympic silver and bronze medalists from the Tokyo Olympics, a pair of 16-year-olds captured the center lanes for the final. Fox Valley Park District’s Leah Hayes was the top qualifier in prelims with a mark of 4:39.65, a personal-best time by more than three seconds. She held a narrow lead in her heat through the halfway point before turning on the jets with a stellar 1:20.81 breaststroke split.
The second spot went to Sandpipers’ Katie Grimes, who closed the gap on Hayes through the freestyle leg but ended up finishing second in 4:41.02, knocking about three tenths off her best time.
In the final heat of the event, the University of Virginia’s Emma Weyant pulled out to a big lead and cruised home to a time of 4:41.10, just three hundredths behind Grimes and good for the third overall seed for the final. Weyant was fourth in the 400-yard IM at the NCAA Championships last month, but her skills in the long course version of the event have never been in doubt, particularly after she nearly chased down Yui Ohashi in the 400 IM final in Tokyo.
The other 400 IM Olympic medalist racing from Tokyo racing here, Hali Flickinger, was well behind Hayes and Grimes in their heat, but she finished in 4:46.04 to qualify fifth for the final. Flickinger has already qualified for the World Championships team in the 200 butterfly and as part of the U.S. women’s 800 freestyle relay.
Justina Kozan finished in 4:45.86 for the fourth-best time, while Mackenzie Looze (4:47.83), Julia Podkoscielny (4:48.82) and Alexis Yager (4:49.14) also qualified for the championship final.
At last year’s Olympic Trials, Weyant and Flickinger came out on top of an exciting four-swimmer showdown that saw Melanie Margalis and Leah Smith just miss out. This time around, Margalis and Smith both skipped the 400 IM, although they are racing in other events in Greensboro. Smith has already qualified for the World Championship team in the 800 free and 800 free relay.
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Go fast, youngins!