{"id":613622,"date":"2025-06-06T02:30:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T09:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=613622"},"modified":"2025-06-06T04:33:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T11:33:01","slug":"us-nationals-battle-of-olympians-brewing-in-the-400-free-friday-prelims-heat-sheet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/us-nationals-battle-of-olympians-brewing-in-the-400-free-friday-prelims-heat-sheet\/","title":{"rendered":"US Nationals: Battle of Olympians Brewing in the 400 Free (Friday Prelims Heat Sheet)"},"content":{"rendered":"

US Nationals: Battle of Olympians Brewing in the 400 Free (Friday Prelims Heat Sheet)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Friday morning preliminary session at the 2025 US Nationals will see action in the 400 freestyle, the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke. The five-day competition is taking place at the historic IU Natatorium in downtown Indianapolis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here to view the full heat sheet<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the 400 freestyle, Olympic champion <\/span>Katie Ledecky<\/b> leads a pack filled with Olympians. The first of the circled seeded heat will see Olympians <\/span>Anna Peplowski<\/b>, <\/span>Bella Sims<\/b>, <\/span>Claire Weinstein<\/b>\u00a0and <\/span>Emma Weyant<\/b> take the water. In the second circle-seeded heat, Ledecky will be joined by <\/span>Erin Gemmell<\/b> and <\/span>Katie Grimes<\/b>. Based on their entry times, Ledecky and Weinstein hold a significat advantage over the rest of the field. In the men\u2019s event <\/span>Aaron Shackell<\/b> will look to defend his Olympic Trials win from a year ago, but will face challenges from both veterans and newcomers. <\/span>Kieran Smith <\/b>and <\/span>Jake Mitchell<\/b> bring in the veteran experience, while <\/span>Rex Maurer<\/b>, Ryan Erisman<\/b> and Luka Mijatovic <\/strong>will bring in the younger power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the 100 breaststroke, <\/span>Lilly King<\/b> will look to go out as the queen in her final 100 on American soil. The Olympic champion and world-record holder will face competition in <\/span>Emma Weber<\/b> and <\/span>Alex Walsh<\/b>. Another swimmer trying to put herself into contention will be <\/span>McKenzie Siroky<\/b>, who put together an outstanding performance in the 50 breaststroke on night three and finished tied for second. 2024 Olympian <\/span>Josh Matheny<\/b> is the top-seed in the men’s events, having a slight edge over <\/span>Michael Andrew<\/b>. Matheny will be joined by two of his Indiana teammates in the circle seeded heats in <\/span>Brian Benzing <\/b>and <\/span>Charlie <\/b>Egeland, <\/b>both of whom look to make their first major international team.<\/span><\/p>\n

To close out the morning on the women’s side, world-record holder <\/span>Regan Smith<\/b> comes in as the favorite to defend her national title in the 100 backstroke. Her biggest competition will come from <\/span>Katharine Berkoff<\/b>, who set the American record in the 50 backstroke on night three and is seeded eight tenths behind Smith. In the men\u2019s 100 backstroke, it will be a changing of the guard with the absence of 2024 Olympians <\/span>Ryan Murphy<\/b> and <\/span>Hunter Armstrong<\/b>. <\/span>Jack Aikins<\/b> comes in as the top seed after narrowly missing making the Olympic Team last summer and will be joined by Trials finalists <\/span>Tommy Janton<\/b>, <\/span>Will Modglin<\/b>\u00a0and <\/span>Jack Wilkening<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n