2023 US OPEN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The women’s and men’s 400 free, 200 IM and 50 free competitions will take place on the second final evening of the 2023 US Open.
The session begins with a battle between the two top seeds Katie Ledecky And Summer McIntosh in the 400 free. At last year’s US Open, just 0.07 seconds separated the two swimmers in the event, with Ledecky emerging victorious. On the men’s side Kieran Smith is the top seed, with Drew Kibler And Luca Urlando the following. Notably, Urlando posted a time of 3:51.45 in the preliminary heat, his second-fastest performance ever.
Defending world champion Kate Douglass is the top seed in the 200 IM with a time of 2:10.03 in the morning. She will compete against her UVA training partner Alex Walsh as well as other local rivals Torri Huske And Regan Smith. In the meantime, Trenton Julian and Hubert Kos were separated by just 0.1 seconds in the men’s 200m IM heats and will advance to the final as the top two seeds.
For women 50 free, Weitzeil AbbeyDouglass and Gretchen Walsh posted times of 24.53, 24.54 and 24.59 in the preliminary rounds and could face another tough battle in the finals. Top seed Quintin McCarty will look to reinforce his personal best of 21.94 in the men’s 50-meter dash with no prelims. In the meantime, Caeleb Dressel will swim in the ‘B’ final after clocking 22.35 seconds in the heats – his fastest 50 meters in open water in 19 months.
Watch the live stream here, courtesy of USA Swimming:
WOMEN’S 400 FREESTYLE – FINAL
- World record: 3:55.38 – Ariarne Titmus (2023)
- American record: 3:56.46 – Katie Ledecky (2016)
- US Open record: 3:57.94 – Katie Ledecky (2018)
- US Open meet record: 3:59.71 – Katie Ledecky (2022)
Top 8:
Unlike their thrill ride last year, the showdown between McIntosh and Ledecky wasn’t even close. McIntosh led from start to finish, beating Ledecky by nearly three seconds. Her time of 3:59.42 broke Ledecky’s US Open record from last year and is faster than the 3:59.94 she set in the final of the 2023 World Championships.
Ledecky’s time of 4:02.26 was her slowest US Open performance ever, as she hit 3:59.71 in 2022, 4:00.51 in 2021 and 4:00.81 in 2019. She faltered in her final 100, splitting 31.12/31.14 after consistently scoring 30 low/mid splits in her first 300m.
Third place was Siobhan Haughey (4:06.32), but Leah Smith wasn’t too far behind in fourth place (4:06.80)
MEN’S 400 FREESTYLE – FINAL
- World record: 3:40.07 – Paul Biederman (2009)
- American record: 3:42.78 – Larsen Jensen (2008)
- US Open record: 3:43.53 – Laresen Jensen (2008)
- US Open meet record: 3:45.63 – Zane Grothe (2016)
Top 8:
ASU professional swimmer Drew Kibler He led most of the men’s free 400m, taking first place with a personal best of 3:47.58. In that meet, his best time was more than two seconds slower – 3:49.88 at the US Nationals this summer. He held back Kieran Smith, who passed him in the final 100 miles to finish second in 3:48.72. Was placed directly behind Smith Illia Sibirtsevwho moved from fifth to third place in the final 50 minutes, beating his personal best of 3:49.86.
Luca Urlando finished fourth with a time of 3:49.26, breaking under the 3:50 mark for the first time in his career.
WOMEN’S 200 IM – FINAL
- World record: 2:06.12 – Katinka Hosszu (2015)
- American record: 2:06.15 – Ariana Kukors (2009)
- US Open record: 2:07.09 – Kate Douglass (2023)
- US Open meet record: 2:08.20 – Melanie Margalis (2019)
Top 8:
The women’s 200m IM did not disappoint with fast swimming and absolute mayhem.
Torri Huske took the lead after the butterfly leg, but then Regan Smith fired a 30.75 backstroke split to take the lead at halftime. Smith was clearly winning at this point in the race (and was also 0.6 seconds ahead of the world record pace), but then faltered in the breaststroke, along with Huske, Alex Walsh and Kate Douglass take over. Douglass took the win with a breaststroke of 36.11 m and a freestyle leg of 30.40 m. Her final time of 2:08.46 was the fourth-fastest performance of her career.
Walsh took second place with a time of 2:08.96, while Huske swam a personal best of 2:09.10, breaking the 2:09.75 she swam at national championships this summer. Anastasia Gorbenko and Smith also managed under the 2:10 mark.
MEN’S 200 IM – FINAL
- World record: 1:54.00 – Ryan Lochte (2011)
- American record: 1:54.00 – Ryan Lochte (2011)
- US Open record: 1:54.56 – Ryan Lochte (2009)
- US Open meet record: 1:56.52 – Chase Kalisz (2022)
Top 8:
Chase Kalisz defended his 2022 US Open title, although it was about a second slower than his time of 1:56.52 from last year. He had been fifth at halftime, but achieved the fastest breaststroke in the field by over a second to take the win.
Kalisz’s ASU teammate came in second Hubert Kos, who was in the lead in the first half of the race, but was taken over by Kalisz on the back straight. His time of 1:57.88 was the fastest he has set since the 2022 European Championships.
Trenton Julian finished third with a time of 1:58.46.
Notably, the fastest overall time came from Shaine Casas From the B final. He managed a time of 1:56.06, beating Kalisz’s US Open meet record by almost half a second. He finished ninth in the preliminary heat with a time of 2:01.47.
WOMEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – FINALE
Top 8:
Douglass’ winning night wasn’t over after the 200m IM as she also sprinted to a win in the 50m free. She achieved a time of 24.38, 0.02 seconds shy of her personal best.
Huske and Weitzeil Abbey In 24.41 minutes he was tied for second place, with Huske falling 0.03 seconds behind this time. Gretchen Walsh He finished fourth with a time of 24.42, missing the podium by just 0.01 seconds.
Above all, Simone Manuel took seventh place with 24.82, finishing under 25 seconds in the 50 free for the first time since the Tokyo Olympics.
MEN 50 FREESTYLE – FINALE
Top 8:
Michael Andrew took the win from lane 8 in the men’s 50-meter free, finishing first with a time of 21.80. Standing behind him Josh Liendo, Mikel SchreudersAnd Santo Condorelli, all on September 21st. went. Schreuder’s time was an Aruba record, surpassing his own mark of 22.04 from June of this year. Meanwhile, Condorelli’s time was his third-fastest performance ever, behind only the swim times of 21.97 and 21.83 he achieved at the 2016 Olympics.
In the B final Caeleb Dressel won in 21.99, staying under 22 seconds for the first time since April 2022.