Clark Smith Scratches from Tonight’s 1500 Free Final

2016 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS

Texas Longhorn Clark Smith has scratched out of the 1500 free final scheduled for tonight.

1500 free heat sheet

Smith, who posted a 15:17.08 in prelims, qualified seventh into the final. He was well off of his lifetime best, a 15:05.97 from May of this year.

Smith posted a 6th place finish in the men’s 200 free final, which will, in all likeliness, earn him a spot on the American 4×200 free relay for the Rio Olympics. That would be Smith’s only swim in Rio, though if he performs well enough in prelims, he could find himself swimming a leg of the relay in the final.

9th place Logan Houck from the Sandpipers of Nevada, who swam a 15:17.51 in prelims, will move into tonight’s final. Houck was about a second off of his lifetime best (15:16.80 from 2015 Summer Nationals), and he’ll get another chance to improve that tonight.

Top seed Connor Jaeger sits at 14:58.59 from prelims– he’s the American record holder in this event, and the heavy favorite to win the event tonight.

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PMD
7 years ago

This is not a big deal

marklewis
7 years ago

It’s understandable if he’s feeling terrible. It’s been a long meet.

swimdoc
7 years ago

Just guessing (and aren’t we all), but Eddie said during an interview at NCAAs, that Clark didn’t sleep for several nights with anxiety and blamed that on Clark’s poor swims. Clark apparently managed to control his nerves here early one and did great in the 400 and the 200.

He was probably so pumped by qualifying for the team in the 200 that he the insomnia kicked in again to the point that he was broken down after his prelims 1500. Why dig a deeper fatigue hole? He’s got to shift to 200 free speed to be of use to the relay, and that means rest.

If there’s one coach whose judgment we all should trust, it’s Eddie’s.

aussie crawl
7 years ago

Soft effort Clark Smith.
At least swim it and have a go.
You might not have another opportunity to swim a 1500 at a Olympic trials.
Logan Houck this is a opportunity…… take it.

Joel Lin
7 years ago

This is an odd one. Getting ready for Rio involves getting back into heavy training for a few weeks. Why not put a 1500 in tonite? Nothing to lose, go for a lifetime best. He fell apart the last 600 of the prelim, but you just never know. Maybe he’d feel good, be loose and treat it like one of his epic training swims like SwimSwam has covered. He definitely has sub 15:00 ability. I think this is a mistake. He should swim tonite.

swimdoc
Reply to  Joel Lin
7 years ago

It seems like Eddie would have a pretty good idea of how to manage his fatigue after his NCAA catastrophe. Apparently he has a confidence problem, and finishing OT’s with a terrible swim might do more harm than good.

Swimmer
7 years ago

Why?

bobo gigi
7 years ago

Great gift for Logan Houck. He will be on NBC. If they show 2 minutes of the race….

bobo gigi
7 years ago

Oh no I had picked Smith in that event with Jaeger. 😆

Why so much drama with him?

About Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon studied sociology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, graduating in May of 2018. He began swimming on a club team in first grade and swam four years for Wesleyan.

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