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.
Both of the US qualifiers in the 400 need a race plan to go 3:43 where the action for medals happens.
Connor and Matt need to put in a “big boy front half” to stay in the race. They are both 1:46 guys in 200…get out in 1:50 – 1:51.
What a great last 50.
Men’s 400 free final. Win for Connor Jaeger. Monster finish for Matt McLean in second place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfDNW1cdmp4
I guess it was in prelims, so they probably didn’t have the fire on, but he did.
Not enough has been said about how he actually raced 1525 meters in last year’s 1500 Olympic Trials. The fire was for him finishing the race. Gotta love Connor Jaeger!
Is Jaeger the new PVK?
Danjohnrob – I’d buy that analogy. Have the Michigan connection; slightly different in specialty and development, but pretty close.
I don’t think so. PVK was more of a middle-distance freestyler, focusing on 200 and 400, who was capable of swimming a good 1500 but got most of his medals as an 800 free relay mainstay. Jaeger is a true distance swimmer who can stretch down to 200 for a prelim spot. Also PVK is three inches taller and 40 lbs heavier.
Fixed. Thx, Lisa…. Very tired after 4 days of managing media.
JAEGER RIPS 4:45 400 FREE FOR NATIONAL TITLE, VIDEO INTERVIEW
0 Gold Medal Mel Stewart | June 29th, 2013
The title on this page says he swam 4:45… 🙂 forget the other guys Ledecky would own him if he swam a 4:45! Lol