Allison Schmitt led a very tight top three in prelims of the women’s 400-meter free at USA Nationals. Schmitt’s 4:09.14 was a three second drop from her entry time. Based on the splits, it looks as if Schmitt backed off on the second half of the race:
Schmitt: 58.90/1:01.84/1:03.56/1:04.84
It’s likely she’ll end the race stronger tonight with a gold medal on the line. Stephanie Peacock (4:09.24) and Hali Flickinger (4:09.64), however, are breathing right down Schmitt’s neck. Peacock and Flickinger seemed to put forth more effort on their final 200 splits than Schmitt needed to.
Peackock: 1:00.41/1:03.30/1:03.22/1:02.31
Flickinger: 1:00.87/1:02.89/1:03.42/1:02.46
Sierra Schmidt (4:11.40), Courtney Harnish (4:11.51), and Yawen Hou (4:11.82) followed in the 4:11.00 range. Lindsay Vrooman posted a 4:12.09 and Hannah Cox swam a 4:12.40 to close out the top eight.
Melanie Klaren just missed qualifying for the top heat with a 4:12.49. She leads the consolation finals ahead of nearby Haley Lips (4:12.50), Sarah Gibson (4:12.67), and Alexa Davis (4:12.97). Chenoa Devine (4:13.58), Karling Hemstreet (4:13.74), Paige Madden (4:13.81), and Alex Norris (4:14.00) also qualified in the consolation finals.
Why are Nationals happening during Worlds? Somebody wasn’t thinking.
Go USA ! Go Alison !