Reported by James Sutherland.
WOMEN’S 400 IM FINALS
- American Record: Katie Hoff, 4:31.12, 2008
- U.S. Open Record: Katinka Hosszu, 4:31.07, 2015
- LC National Meet Record: Katie Hoff, 4:31.12, 2008
- FINA ‘A’ Standard: 4:43.06
- Leah Smith, CAV, 4:33.86
- Elizabeth Beisel, ABF, 4:38.55
- Brooke Forde, LAK, 4:39.19
I don’t think anyone predicted it coming into the meet, but Leah Smith is your National Champion in the women’s 400 IM. Smith turned 4th after the fly, and then absolutely took over on backstroke, turning in 2:12.21 for a 2.6 second lead. She only extended her lead after that, including a blistering 1:01.5 free leg, to touch in 4:33.86. She now sits #3 in the world this year.
That wasn’t the only surprise of the race. Stanford’s Ella Eastin had a strong swim, touching 2nd, handily defeating Elizabeth Beisel who touched 3rd. Shortly after the finish, we learned Eastin had been disqualified for “swimming more than a quarter of the race in the style of backstroke”, AKA the ‘Lochte rule’, indicating she swam a portion of the underwater on the freestyle leg on her back. That moved Beisel up to 2nd, earning her a World Championship berth.
Brooke Forde got bumped up to 3rd with her solid 4:39.19, and shortly after the Eastin DQ we also learned Bethany Galat was DQed for the same thing. This also happened numerous times in the prelims for both men and women.
Stanford’s Allie Szekely lowered her best time from the Santa Clara Pro Swim to win the B-final in 4:40.87. Florida commit Vanessa Pearl of Metroplex Aquatics dropped a huge PB in the C-final, winning the heat in 4:43.60. In the battle for spots on the Junior Worlds team, Christin Rockway (4:45.94) and Madison Homovich (4:48.46) earned their spots placing 2nd and 4th in the C-final.
Such a dumb rule and another sign of FINA’s disconnect from the sport it’s supposed to represent.
I get the idea of the rule. However, how is allowing the distance to be covered with front dolphin kick not butterfly by that logic? We go through this at every. single. officials. meeting. It doesn’t make sense.
I hear that at every offivials’ training and meeting. If they hold the streamline and dolphin kick, why isn’t that repetition of fly? I dread if it goes that far!
Elizabeth, you are a class act! You will be a fantastic team leader for Team USA in Budapest!
I am a USA swim coach and under the Lochte rule I have had several ridiculous DQs. I have been teaching my swimmers to push off on their backs for years. Recently at a “C” level swim meet, I had a nine year old do just this in the freestyle leg of a medely relay and our relay was Disqualified. Now I understand what the rule is trying to prevent, but not only are my young swimmers with a lack of core strength being punished, now Olympic caliber athletes are. I am shocked this rule has lasted so long. Freestyle use to be the safe leg in a medely relay and now we have more to worry about. I heard… Read more »
Funny how Leah Smith’s 1:01.5 split on Free was labeled “blistering”, which it is…but those of us that DARED called into question the 58.2 split of the Chinese 400 IMer were screamed down for even suggesting that might have been a tainted swim.
And I’m positive she couldn’t have touched Leah in a 400-800-1500 free!
She is a class act!
All those years Leah Smith swam the 200 Free on day 2 at NCAAs she could’ve been swimming the 400 IM instead and possibly winning the event or at least bringing in more points for the Wahoos.
That was my first thought too. In her post-race interview she explained why she never swam the 400 im at NCAAs and it makes a more sense to me now (her coaches didn’t think she would be good at it, & she didn’t think she had the turns and underwaters to execute the event well in SCY.)
I mean, Eastin mishearing Beisel and saying, “yeah I know, my last turn was terrible!” is at least kind of unintentionally funny, in a morbid sort of way.