U.S. Nationals: David Johnston, Kieran Smith Surge Past Field in Men’s 400 Free
Who had enough in the tank for finals?
With the men’s 400 free decently wide open at the U.S. National Championships, race strategy and late energy determined who was headed to the World Championships.
The top six seeds from prelims were three quarters of a second from each other and the finals saw four different swimmers lead, but it was a late surge from David Johnston that held of Kieran Smith in the final meters.
Luke Hobson took the lead at the 100, not unexpected since he is a qualifier in the 200 free as well. Hobson continued to lead at the 200 as Kieran Smith started to close the gap.
At the 250, Smith turned just behind Hobson, and at the 300, four swimmers turned close together as Smith took the lead for the first time.
Pulling into the 350, it was David Johnston who pulled ahead of Smith on the final turn as the pair began to pull away from the group.
The final 50 saw Johnston and Smith keep their pace and Johnston out-touch Smith for the gold medal.
Johnston got to the wall in 3:45.75, while Smith went 3:46.11.
“It was awesome,” Johnston said. “It was a dream come true to be able to win for the first time at a meet like this. I swam the race smart, and it was just great to race so many other great swimmers. They helped me swim my best. It is a moment I’ll never forget.”
Jake Mitchell used a strong finish to get third at 3:46.87, holding off Dant (3:47.87) by a second.
Rex Maurer was fifth in 3:48.18, followed by Aaron Shackell (3:49.43), Hobson (3:50.51) and James Plage (3:51.62).
Hobson went for it in the front half of the race but didn’t have enough to keep up the pace.
Charlie Clark won the U.S. Nationals B final in 3:49.54.
