Madison Smith Earns First Olympic Trials Cut With 4:12.80 400 Free (Night 4 NCSAs)

2023 NCSA SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS

After dropping a second and a half second off of her personal best this morning and missing the Trials cut by 0.09 seconds, Madison Smith had a huge swim in the 400 free final. Smith swam to a 4:12.80, dropping a total of over four seconds on the day. That earned Smith her second individual win of the meet and her first Olympic Trials cut. Smith swam the race consistently faster tonight than she did this morning.

Earlier in the meet, Smith missed the 200 free Trials cut by about half a second. Tonight, she crushed the 400 free mark as the cur was a 4:15.49. Finishing behind Smith was Haley McDonald who just missed the cut as she finished in a 4:15.55.

15 year old Charlotte Crush swam a personal best in the 100 butterfly, swimming a 59.07. Crush’s previous best was a 59.21 which she swam in May also in the IUPUI Natatorium. Crush now moves up from the 24th fastest 15-16 girl all-time to now be tied for 21st. Stanford commit Levenia Sim finished behind Crush in a 1:00.20, just off of her best time which she swam at this meet a year ago.

Also earning a Trials cut tonight was 15 year old Hanna Schmidt who swam a 2:31.25 in the 200 breast, surpassing the cut of a 2:31.69. Schmidt had a huge swim as she was over four seconds faster tonight than she was in prelims. This earned her first Trials cut as her previous best coming into the meet was a 2:32.44 from July 2021.

Highlighting the boys side was Mizzou commit Alex Ochsenbein who swam a 2:16.19 in the 200 breast. That time just missed the Trials cut which stands at a 2:15.99. Coming into the meet, Ochsenbein had a personal best of 2:17.00. He won the race tonight by over two seconds as Wilson York was second in a 2:18.30.

After a personal best this morning, Jacob Johnson swam even faster to win the 100 fly in a 54.37, dropping almost a second and a half on the day. It was a close race as Bradford Johnson was about half a second behind touching in a 54.85.  Note: the two swimmers are unrelated

Two boys got under the 4:00 mark in the 400 free. William Savarese won in a 3:58.07 and Luke Brennan was second in a 3:59.45. Savarese, a Michigan commit, was just off his personal best of 3:58.02 which he swam at this meet a year ago and Brennan, a Minnesota commit, dropped almost three seconds off his personal best. In total, Brennan has now dropped over four seconds in the past year.

Lakeside Swim Team swept the relays tonight. The girls relay of Charlotte Crush (56.19), Haley McDonald (56.34), Ava Grazziani (57.82), and Sydney Braeger (58.08) won in a final time of 3:48.43. The boys team of Johnny Crush (50.55), Alexander Thiesing (51.06), Thomas Mercer (51.45), and Zain Butt (52.57) won in a 3:25.63.

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Matt Cohen
8 months ago

Yay Madison!!!!!

About Anya Pelshaw

Anya Pelshaw

Anya has been with SwimSwam since June 2021 as both a writer and social media coordinator. She was in attendance at the 2022 and 2023 Women's NCAA Championships writing and doing social media for SwimSwam. Currently, Anya is pursuing her B.A. in Economics and a minor in Government & Law at …

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