2025 US World Trials Preview: Texas Controls 4 IM with Foster & Maurer but Finke Could Spoil

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, June 3 – Saturday, June 7, 2025
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Indiana University Natatorium
• LCM (50 meters)
• World Championship Selection Criteria
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

MEN’S 400 IM: BY THE NUMBERS

• World Record: 4:02.50 – Leon Marchand, FRA (2023)
• American Record: 4:03.84 – Michael Phelps (2008)
• U.S. Open Record: 4:05.25 – Michael Phelps (2008)
• 2024 Olympic Trials Winner: Carson Foster – 4:07.64
• World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut: 4:17.48

Last summer entering the 2024 Olympic Trials, the event preview, followed a very similar trajectory to that of the 2022 World Trials and 2023 World Trials. Chase Kalisz, the Tokyo Olympic Champion, looked strong to back another Olympic Games but started losing ground as the US foremost 400 IMer, as Carson Foster picked up the mantle. Foster beat Kalisz at the 2022 World Trials and so again in 2023 and 2024. Fellow Olympians Jay Litherland and Bobby Finke always seemed in close contention but were stymied from a top-two finish.

Foster and Kalisz once, again for the third year in a row, represent the USA on the World stage, with Foster, in his first Olympics, claiming the bronze medal. However, Kalisz struggled in prelims and placed 11th overall. Since then, he has swum just one meet and did not touch the IM events. Training partner Jay Litherland, the 2021 Olympic Silver medalist, has not recorded a time in the event since last summer, when he placed 3rd overall. The same goes for the 4th place finisher, Ian Grum, meaning that there will be plenty of fresh faces looking to join Foster in an event that, with the exception of the 2024 Worlds, the US has medaled in every single World Championships dating back to the 2005 Worlds in Montreal, where Ryan Lochte and Robert Margalis finished 5th and 7th respectively.

“First Class”

While the loss of Kalisz’s dominance in the event as a two-time Olympic Medalist and four-time World Champion, in addition to his leadership and institutional knowledge, is sure to be a blow, it may allow Foster to fully take over the mantle as the US premier IMer.Foster has, for a while, been the faster of the two; he’s always had Kalisz with him, but now it’ll be his turn to be the elder statesman in the event.

After a disappointing 3rd place finish at Trials, Foster has been the one to beat in the event on the domestic circuit, and his results speak for themselves. He picked up three medals at the 2022 Worlds, including a silver in the 400 IM, finishing behind Leon Marchand. The next summer, he repeated as the runner-up, finishing once again behind Marchand, who, on his way to repeating as World Champion, blew apart the World Record.

At the 2024 World, Foster added three more medals to his collection but fell .11 short of the medals in this event as he finished 4th with a time of 4:12.62. After successfully making his first Olympics by winning the event at Trials with a time of 4:07.64, his third fastest time ever and fastest on US Soil, Foster seemed to be poised to collect the silver behind Marchand in Paris. Yet, things were not to be, and Foster ran out of steam on the freestyle leg and had to settle for the bronze, finishing in 4:08.66, just .04 back of silver.

Since Paris, Foster hasn’t looked back and has been on a tear. In November, he briefly held the record as the fastest American in the 500-yard freestyle before his training partner Rex Maurer reset it (more on him later). In December he helped smash his own world record in the men’s 4×200 free relay at SC Worlds, a meet where he also collected two individual silvers in the 400 free and 400 IM, the latter of which made him the 2nd fastest American behind only Lochte.

In long course meters, Foster has recorded two results in the 400 IM. In March, he swam a swift 4:09.51 at the Westmont Pro Swim Series, winning by nearly 15 seconds. Two months later, he was a little slower, joining 4:11.81, placing 2nd behind training partner Marchand, who was attempting to directly qualify for Worlds.

When comparing his performance this season historically to his past performances, Foster looks to be in a strong position. His 4:09.51 season best leads all Americans by over four seconds and is faster than his season best in the lead-up to the 2023 and 2024 Trials. The Texas Pro, who entered many events at Trials and No-Showed many of them, is entered in five events this week, adding the 200s of Fly, Free, and IM as well as the 400 free, none of which are scheduled on the same day as the 400 IM at both Trials (day 3) and Worlds (day 8).

“Lucy”

I hope that my connection to Charlie Brown is only in the football-related sense and not a sign of a receding hairline.

It’s a will he/won’t he situation, as Bobby Finke has entered this event at the past four national qualifying meets, but after SwimSwam picked him to place 3rd last year at Trials, he withdrew from the race. Finke, a four-time Olympic, and four-time Worlds medalist is a huge enigma as to whether or not he will swim the race. The second fastest American this year, courtesy of his 4:13.67 win from the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series, a meet where he out-touched Marchand in his return to competition, Finke certainly has the background to earn a spot on the Worlds team in this event.

Bobby Finke (photo: Jack Spitser)

In 2022, Finke was within .08 of taking 2nd place from Kalisz at the World Trials, and while he was further away in 2023, he did break the 4:10 barrier for the first time. Like in the 1500, Finke’s season best of 4:13.67 is his fastest time ever heading into a selection meet and stands as his 5th fastest time ever.

Seeded 3rd overall behind a pair of Texas training partners, Finke has put us in a difficult position of whether or not to include him in our Picks. While the event doesn’t clash with either of his other events (the 800 and 1500) at Trials, the heats and finals of the 400 IM are scheduled to occur on the same day as the finals of the 1500 in Singapore.

We have opted to include Finke in our predictions as the 800 and 1500 are timed finals; he may desire a swim in the middle of the week to stay focused.

Finke’s teammate, Kieran Smith, too, could pull the football out from us as he has entered the 400 IM. Seeded 5th with a time of 4:15.10 from April’s Malmsten Swim Open, the same meet where rival Lukas Märtens broke the longstanding 400 free record, Smith too is a question mark. The event does not conflict with any of Smith’s other events, but he hasn’t swum it often, only having raced it three times since the summer of 2022, when he went his PB of 4:14.04 at US Nationals (that year’s World Trials and Nationals were separate meets).

If they swim it, the pair, both of whom have won the event at SECs (Finke won the event at NCAAs in 2021), likely will place amongst the top eight but will have to hold off three Olympic Trials finalists, all of who will be looking to move up the rankings.

“Cruel Summer”

With this meet serving as the selection meet for Worlds, Junior Worlds, and World University Games, as well as (one of the few selectors) for next Summer’s Pan-Pacs, performances this summer will set up the National team essentially for the next two years, so all swimmers will look to put their best effort forward here and not have to leave it to another meet.

At the forefront of making that jump into the international team conversation are last summer’s 5th, 6th and 7th place finishers, Tommy Bried, Kyle Ponsler and Gregg Enoch. Bried and Enoch both represent Lousiville collegiately, with Bried having just finished up his 3rd season and Enoch his first, while Ponslerer swims for NC State.

Tommy Bried (photo: Jack Spitser)

Bried made great strides last year in the long course 400 IM, dropping over three seconds to produce a PB of 4:15.01 at the Olympic Trials. While during the 23-24 season, his yards times stagnated, this past season, Bried had a breakthrough, getting under the 3:40 barrier for the first time to win ACC with a time of 3:39.28, beating out both Ponsler and Enoch, who finished 2nd and 5th respectively. Bried has swum the long course version of the event twice this season, going 4:17.29 in Fort Lauderdale to finish 3rd behind Finke. He also swam it more recently at a meet in Tennessee, where he won in 4:22.50, and while that time was a little slower, his time from the Pro- -Swim Series is his fastest swim outside of the Olympic Trials and much faster than where he was this time last year, 4:21.05 at the Indy May Cup.

His teammate Enoch didn’t quite hit his PB of 4:16.80 at the Olympic Trials, going 4:17.27 in prelims and 4:17.64 in finals. From then to now, over the course of his first year in Louisville, Enoch has improved in both the yards versions of the 200 fly and 400 IM, dropping over three seconds in the latter, recording a result of 3:41.10 at ACCs. He, too, swam at the same two long course meets as Bried but has shown the same pop as his teammate did, placing 16th in Florida (4:28.75) and recording a season-best of 4:27.80 in Tennessee.

Ponsler, who split the pair at the Olympic Trials, going 4:16.53 to place 6th, also spit the pair at ACCs and similarly has a season-best (LCM) between the two. Ponsler had the largest drop from seed of all the finalists last summer, as he entered as the 21st seed with a seed of 4:19.54 and qualified in the finals as the 8th seed. Ponsler got the better of Bried at NCAAs as he won the B-Final in a new PB of 3:37.42 (a time that, had he made the A-final, he would have placed 4th). He has only swum once since NCAA, recording a time of 4:25.76 at the TAC Titans Spring Fling Meet, but one should not read too much into the time as he had no LCM swims in the event in the lead-up to trials last year.

Less than two seconds was the difference between 8th and 12th last year, and Levi Sandidge (9th- 4:17.61) and Mitchell Schott (12th-4:18.69) will be looking to make that move up into the A-final this year. The pair swam PB last year, so they should be happy with their performances, but entering as the 10th and 11th seeds this year, the pair who swim for Kentucky and Princeton, respectively, are in precarious positions. Neither were at their best at NCAAs, and Sandidge was 4:29.50 in mid-May at the Tennessee Invitational. Schott Swan was in Fort Lauderdale but didn’t contest the 400 IM (he did PB in the 200 free), so the pair are a bit unknown as they head into the week.

“Good Days”

Whereas the section above all had swimmers who performed well last summer, this group contains swimmers who have improved upon their performances from last year and could be in for an even bigger summer ahead.

Rex Maurer (photo: Jack Spitser)

Leading that charge is the #2 seed, Rex Maurer. Maurer didn’t contest the event last summer, and while he recorded PBs in the 200 Free and 200 IM at trials, he didn’t make any finals. With a change in training base and relocating to Texas, Maurer has exploded to new heights. In November of this year, he became the fastest American in the 500 free, and he carried on that success into NCAAs, where he claimed gold in the 500 free and 400 IM and placed 2nd in the mile.

He took out the IM in 48.68, a new 100 fly PB, before going on to win in 3:34.00 (dropping over four seconds in one year) to become the 3rd fastest American of all time, trailing only American Record holder Kalisz and training partner Foster. His improvements have not been limited to just yards, however, as at a meet in mid-may, he broke 1:47 for the first time in the 200 free, 3:47 for the first time in the 400 free, and 8:00 for the first time in the 800, recording a time of 7:51.19.

His 400 IM (4:16.61), where he placed 3rd behind Marchand and Foster, was not a PB, as his best was from last the 2024 Summer Championships, where he went 4:13.17, but with his drops in yards, Maurer could easily make it a one-two for the Longhorns.

Last summer’s 14th and 16th place finishers Luke Ellis and Michael Hochwalt, too, are living in the good days. Ellis, an Indiana commit, entered trials last year as the 38th seed with a time of 4:22.66, but as with all of his other events, he produced personal bests, dropping under 4:20 for the first time to stop the clock at 4:19.94. Still eligible to swim in junior competitions, Ellis continued his great summer at Junior Pan-Pacs, where he won the 800 free and earned silver in the 1500 and 400 IM, resetting his PB down to 4:16.84. He has swum the event twice since, most recently placing 4th at Fort Lauderdale, going 4:20.52, his 3rd fastest ever. Ellis, seeded 7th this week, like Finke, could face the 1500/400 IM double in Singapore should he make the team in both; he is the #3 seed in the 1500 this week.

Hochwalt didn’t have the strongest Olympic Trials, as he added a few tenths to his seed time, although he did improve by six spots. However, since then, the ASU freshman has made great strides. He set a PB of 3:41.40 in the yards version to win Big 12s, and while he struggled at NCAAs, he dropped a monster of a swim at the Sacramento Pros Swim Series. In a field with just 14 splashes and against adverse outdoor conditions, the Washington Native produced a swift 4:16.88,  a new PB, and the 5th fastest time by an American this season.

“Unknown/Nth”

Similar to the Lucy section above, David Johnston‘s participation is a big question mark. The Texas Longhorn, who red-shirted the 2023-2024 season, was the 4th seed entering Trials last year, with a PB of 4:12.51 from the 2024 World Champs. He, like Finke, didn’t swim the event and, as the #2 seed in the 1500, faces a similar schedule dilemma at Worlds. He did opt to race the event at a meet in May, going 4:20.72, a meet where he scratched the 1500, so that may point to his willingness to contest the event.

Fellow Longhorn Baylor Nelson, who, after NCAAs announced his intentions to transfer from Texas A&M, is also an unknown. Nelson is the 36th seed, but only because he is entered with a yard’s time. Nelson did not contest the event at the 2024 Trials and hasn’t recorded a result in the event since the 2023 US Open, where he placed 6th in 4:20.06. He holds a PB of 4:15.87 dating back to the 2023 Nationals, but with such the recent move and new training base, it doesn’t seem like enough time to get back into the mid-4:10. That said he did come with .01 of his PB in the yards version of the event this season, and he place ahead of Johnston, Ponsler, Bried and Enoch at NCAA this year, finishing 7th overall, just behind his now-teammate Cooper Lucas. While Nelson did swim the 400 IM LC this season, Lucas did go 4:21.62, which is not that far off his 4:19.55 13th place finish at trials.

“Fluctuate”

Foster seems to be an easy pick to the list and naturally does so. Finke’s PB and in-season form would give him the edge over Maurer, but the Longhorn’s impressive drops this season make a compelling case, and with Finke having in the past dropped the event and its Worlds Schedule conflict, we are giving the nod to Maurer, however, don’t discount Finke swimming the event in prelims and maybe scratching the finals, or swimming at finals but dropping the event at Worlds.

Smith’s time in Sweden was underreported as the surprise 400 free record swallowed it up, but for him to get back close to his best at the meet in April is a good sign. Ponsler got the best of Bried at NCAAs, but the Louisville Cardinals strong in-season time in Florida gives him the edge over both Ponsler and Ellis. Hochwalt’s strong performance in Sacramento shouldn’t go without notice, but as it came right after NCAAs, he may have just been hitting his taper, as he was a little off the weekend prior. Like Finke, if Johnston swims, he has the pedigree to place in the top 8, but he, too, is a big uncertainty.  Nelson will more likely swim it than Johnston, but with the recent change of training bases and the fact that he didn’t swim the event at the Longhorn Invitational, it’s hard to see what he could do. His 200 IM (2:00.50) was only about a second off his PB, so he may have adapted quickly, but don’t be surprised if Ponsler, Enoch, Lucas, or any of the others mentioned final, especially if we see a plethora of highly ranked scratches.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse:  Mason Laur – With it being the year after the Olympics and with numerous retirements and lack of results, any number of swimmers could be in line for this spot, but Florida’s Mason Laur results in Georgia got our notice. After placing 11th at NCAAs in the 400 IM (3:39.28), Laur didn’t travel with his teammates to Fort Lauderdale for the PSS, instead opting to swim at the Bull Dog Grand Slam, where he posted the 7th fastest time this season of 4:18.76. The Gator didn’t swim the event at Trials last year; instead, it concentrated on the 200 fly and IM, placing 3rd in the former, with just .29 behind second-place finisher Luca Urlando. With a PB of 4:15.81 from the 2023 Trials, a time which would have placed 5th in the A-final had he made it, Laur could be in line to play spoiler.