In Stockholm, Max Litchfield Posts 400 IM Time That Would Have Taken British Title

2023 SWIM OPEN STOCKHOLM

• Thursday, April 13th – Sunday, April 16th
• Stockholm, Sweden
• LCM (50m)
• World Championships Qualifier
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Entries/Results

The 2023 Swim Open Stockholm continued today with British Olympian Max Litchfield making some noise in the men’s 400m IM.

28-year-old Litchfield produced a winning effort of 4:12.85 to beat the field by over 7 seconds. Mykhailo Romanchuk of Ukraine touched in 4:20.26 for silver while Slovakia’s Richard Nagy rounded out the top 3 in 4:22.53.

Litchfield has not swum in his home nation of Great Britain for some time, instead opting to train in South Africa with Chad Le Clos at one time before competing at such meets as last year’s U.S. Nationals as well as this year’s City of Florence Trophy in Italy.

The significance of Litchfield’s swim tonight is not only the fact his 4:12.85 represents his fastest effort in 2 years but also the fact that the time would have taken the national title at the British Swimming Championships.

At that competition which just concluded last week, Litchfield’s time would have dominated the field, easily defeating gold medalist Charlie Hutchison who topped the podium in 4:17.89.

Although Litchfield’s outing here in Stockholm would have missed the stiff British Swimming automatic qualification standard of 4:09.18 for the World Championships, it would have dipped under the 4:13.00 consideration standard.

We still do not have a definitive explanation as to why Litchfield has not swum on domestic soil but will continue to dig into the situation.

In another men’s race, Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zheltyakov put up another impressive result in the men’s backstroke discipline. After tying his own national record in the 200m distance earlier in the competition, the 17-year-old came within earshot of his own personal best in the 100m sprint.

The teen punched a time of 54.39, a mark sitting just outside his PB and national record of 53.98 he produced en route to earning silver at the 2021 European Junior Championships.

Zheltyakov held off two other men tonight who got under the 55-second barrier, as Czech swimmers Miroslav Knedla and Tomas Franta were charging to the wall as well. Knedla posted 54.41 while Franta bagged bronze in 54.81.

Ukraine’s Denys Kesil logged a new meet record en route to topping the men’s 200m fly podium. The 22-year-old Olympian put up a time of 1:56.46 to take the gold and dip under the World Aquatics ‘A’ time of 1:56.71 needed for Fukuoka.

The women’s races were highlighted by Sophie Hansson of the host nation. Shem stopped the clock in 2:25.31 in the 200m breast to take the top spot. That sneaked under the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 2:25.91 needed to qualify for this summer’s World Championships.

Hansson owns a lifetime best of 2:23.82 in this event from the 2020 Olympic Games.

Finally, Sarah Sjostrom wowed again, this time putting up a time of 23.92 to take the women’s 50m free. That defeated American Catie DeLoof who scored silver in 24.70 while Sjostrom’s countrymate Michelle Coleman earned bronze in 24.72.

As for Sjostrom, her time checks in as a season-best and the sole time in the world under the 24-second barrier this season.

Additional Winners

• American Paige Madden won the women’s 400m free by over 5 seconds, logging 4:10.75 for gold.
• Croatia’s Nikola Miljenic topped the men’s 100m free podium in a result of 49.03 while World Championships multi-medalist Maxime Grousset of France notched 49.22 for silver. Lithuania’s 400m free champion here Danas Rapsys was also under 50 seconds in 49.27.
• French swimmer Emma Terebo grabbed gold in the women’s 200m back in 2:11.93.
• The women’s 200m IM saw Tamara Potocka of Slovakia get to the wall first in 2:14.44.