Men’s 400 Freestyle – 2013 World Championship Trials – as reported by swimswam:
Michigan’s Connor Jaeger is the real deal, and has now added a second qualification to his World Championships schedule after winning the men’s 400 free in 3:45.89. That’s a lifetime best for him by a full second ahead of his swim in Santa Clara, and he now seems a veritable lock to win the 800 free on the meet’s final day.
The battle for this race got very interesting; Virginia’s Matt McLean swam with a huge closing 50 meters of 26.94 as he and Conor Dwyer battled with Jaeger in the last 15 meters (Dwyer and Jaeger were locked up for the full 400 meters). McLean couldn’t quite make up the gap on Dwyer, but everyone in the Natatorium at IUPUI saw the true outcome.
A gasp erupted at the start of the 400, as Dwyer had a huge twitch on the block and a rolling start. He touched in 4:46.05, but he was disqualified for a false start, giving the second spot at Worlds to McLean in 4:46.14.
Sometimes, false starts, especially in these longer races, are largely impact-less on the outcome. Dwyer, however, was clearly out in front of everyone, and with him beating McLean by less than a tenth of a second, the final two for Worlds was a just outcome.
Jaeger and McLean move to 5th and 6th in the world this year, respectively.
Charlie Houchin took 3rd in 3:47.15, which is a best time of his own. Texas’ Michael McBroom, already on the team in the 1500, was 5th in 3:49.28, and his fellow Texas alum Michael Klueh was 5th in 3:51.54.
Another Longhorn swimmer, Jacob Ritter, won the B-Final in 3:52.49. He’s swimming this event at the World University Games next month.
Video edit by Coleman Hodges.
