Faster Than Hackett, Thomas Neill Busts Out 3:46.27 400 Free Silver In Budapest

7TH FINA WORLD JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019

• Duna Arena, Budapest (Hungary)
• Pool swimming: Tuesday, August 20 – Sunday, August 25, 2019
• Heats 9:30am GMT+2 (3:30 am EDT / 12:30 am PDT)/ Semifinals and Finals 5:30pm GMT+2 (11:30am EDT / 8:30am PDT)
• 50-meter (LCM) course
• Meet site
• Entries book
• FinaTV Live Stream (subscription required)
• Live results

One of our ‘top 10 men to watch’ entering these World Junior Championships just made some magic happen, with Aussie Thomas Neill throwing down the swim of his life to earn 400m free silver tonight in Budapest.

Entering these World Junior Championships, Neill’s personal best in this mid-distance free event stood at the 3:49.98 he produced at this year’s Australian World Championships Trials to earn 5th and make his mark among his nation’s elite. This morning, the 17-year-old Rackley athlete punched the clock in an effort of 3:49.88 for the 3rd seed, already improving the aforementioned mark by .10.

However, the man saved his best for the final, where he crushed an eye-popping new personal best mark of 3:46.27 to hack more than 3 seconds off his PB and come within .21 of the World Junior Championships title. His time fell just a hair behind winner Gabor Zombori of Hungary, who produced a winning mark of 3:46.06 to take the gold in a new Meet Record effort.

Splits for Neill include 54.61/57.90/57.62/56.14, highlighted by a head-turning final lap of 26.97 that almost ran down the Hungarian.

However, for Neill, his time inserts him among the Australian greats for the men’s 400m free event on the age list, with the teen now ranking as the 4th fastest 400m freestyler ever at 17. One may expect him to be higher with a time like that, but consider he has Olympic champions Ian Thorpe and Mack Horton ahead of him, along with Jordan Harrison. But, Neill’s time does place him ahead of Aussie swimming legend Grant Hackett at the same age.

All-Time Aussie 17-year-olds in Men’s 400m Free

3:40.59 Ian Thorpe SLC Aquadot Sydney Olympics 16.09.00
3:44.60 Mack Horton Melb. Vicentre Brisbane Australian Champs 01.04.14
3:45.85 Jordan Harrison Miami Adelaide Australian Champs 26.04.13
3:46.27 Thomas Neill Rackley World Junior Championships 20.08.19
3:46.44 Grant Hackett Miami Perth World Championships 12.01.98