Carson Foster Swims 400 IM in 4:08.46, Would Have Won Olympic Trials

2021 SUMMER SOUTHERN SECTIONALS

• July 22-25, 2021
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, Texas
• Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Results on MeetMobile: “2021 ST TXLA Speedo Southern Sectionals”

On the second day of the Southern Sectionals meet in Austin, Texas, Carson Foster blasted a 4:08.46 in the 400 IM, a time that would have won the event at the Olympic Trials earlier this year.

At Wave II of the Olympic Trials last month, Foster finished in a heartbreaking third place in the race, missing an Olympic birth by just half of a second behind Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland. Just over a month later, his swim in the race would have won at Trials by nearly the same amount, as Kalisz won that race in 4:09.09.

For Foster, that swim also marks a big-time drop in the event, as his 4:10.50 from the prelims at Trials was his previous lifetime best. Foster is now the fastest American performer in the event this year, as well as the second-fastest since 2016. The only American who has been faster than him since then is Kalisz, who finished in 4:05.90 at the 2017 World Championships. If he was competing in Tokyo, he would have been seeded in third in the race, with Kalisz and Daiya Seto ahead of him.

Foster took the fly leg out in the same time as he did at Trials before being slightly slower on both the back and breast legs of the race. The big difference came on the final 100, where he was nearly three seconds faster in Austin than he was in Omaha.

Outside of Foster, Karina Kanary of Longhorn Aquatics finished with the top time in the women’s 200 breast. The 16-year old held off Ella Smoker by over half of a second to touch in 2:34.03. Kanary finished 6th in Wave I of Olympic Trials in the event earlier this summer.

On the men’s side, it was Carson Foster‘s brother, Jacob Foster, who claimed the top spot in the men’s 200 breast. Like his brother, his time was faster than what he swam at Olympic Trials, although his would have left him finishing in 6th in the event. He finished in 2:10.41, almost a second faster than his finals swim from Trials.

Kelly Pash claimed her second event win of the weekend as she topped the podium in the 200 free. Pash stopped the clock in 2:00.36 to beat out Hayden Miller by over a second. Pash swims for the University of Texas, like both of the Foster brothers.

After finishing third in the 100 free on day one of the meet, Brett Pinfold took the top spot in the 200 free on day two. Pinfold, who swam collegiately for Wisconsin, touched in 1:50.37. He finished 7th in the 100 free at the Olympic Trials.

Continuing the trend of Longhorns winning events was Genevieve Pfeifer in the women’s 400 IM. Pfeifer, who just finished her senior year at Texas, won by 12 seconds, touching in 4:44.98. At Olympic Trials, she finished in 7th in the race in 4:40.23.

While Foster came away with the top men’s time in the 400 IM, Cooper Lucas took 2nd in 4:19.95. Only 16, the high school sophomore’s time was a huge lifetime best, as going into the meet his best finish in the race was 4:27.59. With that time, Lucas now sits as the 7th fastest performer in USA Swimming history for the 15-16 age group all-time, ahead of names such as Andrew Seliskar, Bobby Finke, and Luca Urlando.