Two of the swimmers who traveled the furthest distances to swim collegiately made the biggest move in the first distance event at the NCAA Division I championships.<\/p>\n

The South Carolina duo of\u00a0Fynn\u00a0Minuth<\/strong> and\u00a0Akaram Mahmoud<\/strong> led the preliminary field with top times of 4:09.55 and 4:09.73 on Thursday, holding off Michigan freshman\u00a0Felix Auboeck<\/strong> (4:09.93).<\/p>\n

Minuth is a sophomore from Germany, while Mahmoud is a junior from Egypt.<\/p>\n

Making the final wasn\u2019t a surprise for Minuth, who had the third-fastest time (4:11.07) in the country during the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just getting mentally and physically ready for the race. Our coach Mark Bernardino<\/strong> had us perfectly prepared for this meet, and having a great group of guys that train with you every day helps a lot,\u201d Minuth said. \u201cHaving (Akaram) by my side was great.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mahmoud moved up from 15^{th<\/sup>-fastest at 4:14.34, which wasn\u2019t even an automatic qualifying time, returning to his All-American form from last year.<\/p>\n}

\u201cIt started in the 800 free relay when we broke the school record,\u201d Mahmoud said. \u201cWe broke it my almost 3 \u00bd seconds, so that gave us huge momentum toward today. Then this morning, that is the first time we both broke 4:10, and I think that put us eighth and ninth all time. That is a huge thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traveling across continents to join South Carolina has paid dividends for the duo, as well as junior Tom Peribonio<\/strong>, who qualified for the consolation final with the 16^{th<\/sup> seed (4:14.09).<\/p>\n}

\u201cNo. 1 priority was definitely Mark Bernardino,\u201d Minuth said. \u201cHe is a great coach. I heard a lot about him before I even thought about South Carolina. And I knew Arakam was here already. They were huge factors of why I chose South Carolina. It is a very positive environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahmoud is no stranger to the big stage, swimming for Egypt in the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 400-meter freestyle and 1,500 freestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a little disappointed with my performance at Rio. I was hoping to make the final, but finished 11^{th<\/sup> in the mile,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gave me huge momentum going into this season. I wanted to do something even more special. We worked really hard this last month and we put in everything we had. Going under 4:10 is a huge accomplishment for me. One of my goals was to go 4:10 or better. Mark keeps pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n}

He is hoping to build off of the meet his Egyptian Olympic teammate Farida Osman<\/strong> had last week. The Cal senior capped her career with a national title in the 100 butterfly.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course (that gets me excited),\u201d Mahmoud said. \u201cThat is my goal hopefully this year, in the mile. I am excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

The South Carolina duo will have its hands full in the final with 2015 champion\u00a0Clark Smith\u00a0<\/strong>of Texas (4:10.53) and last year\u2019s champion Townley Haas <\/strong>(4:11.33) looming. Plus Indiana\u2019s\u00a0Marwan El Kamash<\/strong> (4:11.84), Stanford\u2019s\u00a0Grant Shoults<\/strong> (4:12.14) and NC State\u2019s\u00a0Anton Ipsen<\/strong> (4:12.18).<\/p>\n

Whatever the outcome, South Carolina\u2019s distance crew is making a statement in Indianapolis and with no seniors in the trio of 500 freestyle scorers, the future looks even brighter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have at least one more year together. We will train the same way \u2014 it has been paying off for all of us so far \u2014 and the meet just started,\u201d Minuth said. \u201cWe will see where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n