Hungary Claims Men’s 400 Free Relay Victory; USA Finishes Fourth

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Men’s 400 Free Relay FINAL

The men of Hungary arrived ready to race for finals of the men’s 400 free relay, buoyed by sizzling splits from both their lead and anchor legs: Kristof Milak and Nandor Nemeth. Milak got the race off to a strong start with a top split of 49.08, the fastest lead-off split in the field. Marton Barta (50.58) and Richard Marton (50.09) swam second and third for the Hungarians, but were unable to hold off the charging Americans who took first thanks to strong middle swims by Matthew Willenbring (49.16) and Drew Kibler (50.04).

That all changed when Nemeth dove in for the Hungarians, shifting the relay team from fifth to first with a sizzling split of 48.24. As a team, the men of Hungary completed the race with a combined time of 3:17.99, finishing just about a second off the benchmark World Junior Record of 3:16.96.

Poland cruised along at second throughout most of the race. Relay members Karol Ostrowski (49.87), Bartosz Piszczorowicz (49.12), Kacper Stokowski (49.88), and Jakub Kraska (49.66) posted a combined time of 3:18.53, just holding off the Australian team’s final time of 3:18.55.

The third place Australian team was comprised of Jordan Brunt (49.68), Zachary Attard (49.57), Samuel Wendt (50.67), and Elijah Winnington (48.63).

Despite strong swims by Willenbring and Kibler, the American team of Daniel Krueger (49.50), Willenbring (49.16), Kibler (50.04), and Trey Freeman (49.98) finished fourth overall, followed by Russia’s time of 3:19.34.

Brazil (3:19.62), Germany (3:19.88), and Italy (3:20.29) were sixth through eighth respectively.

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Thomas A. Small

6 years ago

Congratulations