{"id":531295,"date":"2023-06-30T16:43:42","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T23:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=531295"},"modified":"2023-07-01T09:05:34","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T16:05:34","slug":"u-s-nationals-david-johnston-kieran-smith-surge-past-field-in-mens-400-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/u-s-nationals-david-johnston-kieran-smith-surge-past-field-in-mens-400-free\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Nationals: David Johnston Wins 400 Free in ‘Moment I’ll Never Forget’"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Nationals: David Johnston, Kieran Smith Surge Past Field in Men’s 400 Free<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Who had enough in the tank for finals?<\/p>\n

With the men’s 400 free decently wide open at the U.S. National Championships, race strategy and late energy determined who was headed to the World Championships.<\/p>\n

The top six seeds from prelims were three quarters of a second from each other and the finals saw four different swimmers lead, but it was a late surge from David Johnston<\/strong> that held of Kieran<\/strong> Smith<\/strong> in the final meters.<\/p>\n

Luke Hobson<\/strong> took the lead at the 100, not unexpected since he is a qualifier in the 200 free as well. Hobson continued to lead at the 200 as Kieran Smith<\/strong> started to close the gap.<\/p>\n

At the 250, Smith turned just behind Hobson, and at the 300, four swimmers turned close together as Smith took the lead for the first time.<\/p>\n

Pulling into the 350, it was David Johnston<\/strong> who pulled ahead of Smith on the final turn as the pair began to pull away from the group.<\/p>\n

The final 50 saw Johnston and Smith keep their pace and Johnston out-touch Smith for the gold medal.<\/p>\n

Johnston got to the wall in 3:45.75, while Smith went 3:46.11.<\/p>\n

“It was awesome,” Johnston said. “It was a dream come true to be able to win for the first time at a meet like this. I swam the race smart, and it was just great to race so many other great swimmers. They helped me swim my best. It is a moment I’ll never forget.”<\/p>\n

Jake Mitchell<\/strong> used a strong finish to get third at 3:46.87, holding off Dant (3:47.87) by a second.<\/p>\n

Rex Maurer<\/strong> was fifth in 3:48.18, followed by Aaron Shackell<\/strong> (3:49.43), Hobson (3:50.51) and James Plage<\/strong> (3:51.62).<\/p>\n

Hobson went for it in the front half of the race but didn’t have enough to keep up the pace.<\/p>\n

Charlie Clark won the U.S. Nationals B final in 3:49.54.<\/p>\n