2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
- Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
- SCM (25m)
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America got on the board in a big way on night three of the 2022 Short Course World Championships, with Kieran Smith taking the men’s 400m freestyle gold.
Smith stopped the clock in a time of 3:34.38, beating out runner-up Tommy Neill of Australia and Danas Rapsys of Lithuania. Neill posted a time of 3:35.05 for silver while Rapsys rounded out the top 3 in 3:36.26 for bronze.
Smith’s outing tonight not only established a new personal best for the Florida ace but also checked in as a new American Record.
We’d have to look way back to 2009 to find the previous American Record. Olympic medalist Peter Vanderkaay was the prior record-holder having produced a mark of 3:34.81 that year.
Entering this meet, Smith’s career-quickest rested at the 3:35.99 he logged during this year’s FINA World Cup Series stop in Indianapolis. That result scored a new U.S. Open Record for the 22-year-old.
| New American Record | Old Smith PB | |
| 100m | 51.07 | 51.71 |
| 200m | 53.84 | 54.59 |
| 300m | 54.7 | 54.88 |
| 400m | 54.77 | 54.81 |
| Final Time | 3:34.38 | 3:35.99 |
With his result tonight, Smith is rendered the 5th fastest performer in history in this men’s SCM 400 free event.
All-Time Men’s SCM 400 Freestyle Performers
- Yannick Agnel (FRA) – 3:32.25 2012
- Paul Biedermann (GER) – 3:32.77 2009
- Danas Rapsys (LTU) – 3:33.20 2019
- Peter Bernek (HUN) – 3:34.32 2014
- Kieran Smith (USA) – 3:34.38 2022
Smith was the 5th place finisher in this event one year ago at the 2021 Short Course World Championships, earning a time of 3:38.77 there in Abu Dhabi.
Yah think this is Ledecky with a Smith cap on? Something smells fishy in the water…
Why us Ledeky’s face on the picture? I’m confused 😕
3:34 shows Kieran is right on his best times dating back to 2020 when he went 4:06 in the 500 free. For some perspective, this time converts to a 4:05 500 and and 4:41 in LCM. If he approaches his best time form for the 200Y free (having gone sub 1:30 twice ), I wouldn’t be surprised if he pops a sub 1:41 200 free. 1:40.95 is the course record and 1:39.37 is the world record so he’s really close with this performance.
He went out like gangbusters the first 200, glad he was able to hang on, great swim, Kieran!
Townley Haas nods in approval
So happy for him, he has such a beautiful stroke. He’s maybe been a bit overshadowed by Finke the last couple years, so it’s great to see him on top of the podium for a well-deserved gold
Agree! I hope this swim translates well to his LCM 200 free.