Produced by Coleman Hodges.
Reported by Jared Anderson.
400 IM – FINALS
- NCAA Record: 3:34.50, Chase Kalisz, 2015
- American Record: 3:34.50, Chase Kalisz, 2015
- U.S. Open Record: 3:34.50, Chase Kalisz, 2015
Pool Record: 3:37.88, Ryan Lochte, 2006- 2015 Champion: 3:36.37, Will Licon
Top 3:
- Josh Prenot, Cal – 3:35.82
- Will Licon, Texas – 3:37.40
- Jay Litherland, Georgia – 3:38.47
Avenging a loss from last night in the 200 IM, Cal’s Josh Prenot broke through for his first career NCAA title, going 3:35.82 to beat defending champ Will Licon for the 400 IM crown.
That’s a monster swim for Prenot, ranking #2 all-time and passing up former American record-holder and Olympian Tyler Clary. Prenot was reportedly sick at this meet last year and added time from his previous seasons, going just 3:41.42. Because of the down junior year, Prenot’s swim tonight accounts for a drop of almost three seconds.
Licon had a solid swim himself, going 3:37.40 for silver. That’s still a full second off what he went last year, though, in upsetting Chase Kalisz for the NCAA title. Prenot really dominated on butterfly, splitting 48.8 to Licon’s 50.6, and that margin never really let Licon back into the race. Prenot actually outsplit Licon on breaststroke (58.1 to 59.6), which should make tomorrows 200 breast another intriguing showdown. Licon did come back better than Prenot on freestyle, though, 51.0 to 52.4.
Georgia’s sophomore duo of Jay Litherland (3:38.47) and Gunnar Bentz (3:38.59) jumped into the next two spots. Litherland had a monster of a freestyle split, going 48.8 to charge towards the top of the field, and Bentz was 49.7 himself.
Cal freshman Andrew Seliskar was 3:39.06 in taking fifth. That’s his best swim in college so far, but is a bit disappointing compared to the 3:37 he went in high school.
Also of note: Florida sophomore Mark Szaranek blasted a 3:39.28 from the B final for 9th place overall. Szaranek was a championship finalist last year but missed the cut out of prelims when it took an insane 3:41.4 just to make the top 8 this morning.
