Blueseventy Swim of the Week: Prenot breaks through with 400 IM win

Disclaimer: BlueSeventy Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week. The BlueSeventy Swim is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks some as others grabbed the headlines.

In the shuffle of Egyptian records, National Age Group records and even a couple near-world records, one swim from the Pro Swim Series at Austin with potential national and international significance somewhat fell through the cracks.

In Friday night’s 400 IM, 21-year-old Cal junior Josh Prenot went up against a murderer’s row-type field that included the defending national champion (Tyler Clary) and the defending Olympic champion (Ryan Lochte). But Prenot came up huge, winning the event in a touchout of Clary, 4:16.08 to 4:16.28.

That’s a breakthrough swim for Prenot, who seems to be right on the cusp of establishing himself as one of USA Swimming’s top IM threats.

Prenot had a roller coaster of a summer. At USA Nationals, he qualified 4th out of prelims, just missing his lifetime-best and sitting one spot away from a berth on the US Pan Pacs team. At finals, though, the Californian exploded for a PR and a third-place finish, stamping his ticket to Australia for Pan Pacs.

In Australia, Prenot didn’t quite repeat that 4:14.85, but did manage to make the top 8 at a tough international meet. The only problem? There were three Americans ahead of him, and per the Pan Pacs rules allowing just 3 swimmers from any single country to compete in finals, Prenot was denied a second swim.

Prenot’s performance in Austin, though, showed that he’s on track to earn that finals swim next time around. His winning time in Austin was the second-best swim of his life, and he fought off a tough charge from Pan Pacs silver medalist Clary to earn his event title.

With Prenot looking that tough in the middle of his college season, one can’t help but speculate about what could be in store this spring and this summer. Prenot will have a shot at Chase Kalisz, the current young star of the 400 IM scene, in March at the NCAA Championships. He’ll then get to compete for Team USA at the World University Games in Korea this coming July.

Obviously, passing elites like Kalisz and Clary is no walk in the park. But based on his outstanding weekend in Austin, Prenot is looking like he has a real, if outside, shot at unseating one or both in the 18 months leading up to the Rio Olympics.

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