Joseph Bentz of Dynamo and Sean Grieshop tied atop the men’s 400-meter IM prelim at USA Nationals with a 4:17.34. Bentz nabbed a share of first despite adding two seconds from his entry time. He took the race out in a 57.96, and followed that with a 1:06.75, 1:12.81, and 59.82. Grieshop’s splits showed his strength in the back and free legs of the race:
Grieshop: 59.05/1:05.47/1:13.92/58.90
Travis Mahoney touched just over a tenth behind them at 4:17.45. Stanford’s Max Williamson overcame a 1:00.07 start on the fly to take fourth. Williamson clocked a solid second half with a 1:11.53 breast and 59.44 free split. Andrew Seliskar took fifth in 4:18.92, while Curtis Ogren (4:19.41), John Martens (4:19.55), and Corey Okubo (4:19.68) rounded out the top eight finishers.
Daniel Graviss is the top seed entering tonight’s consolation final at 4:20.62. Will Licon is determined to climb to the ninth spot. He currently sits tenth at 4:20.70.
The consolation final will also feature Adam Hinshaw (4:21.37), Max Litchfield (4:21.38), Michael Meyer (4:21.50), Brandon Flynn (4:21.58), Charles Swanson (4:22.11), and Andrew Gemmell (4:22.37).
