NCAA Men’s Championships: David Johnston Sets Pace in 500 Free

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Men’s Championships: David Johnston Sets Pace in 500 Free

David Johnston and Luke Hobson own the top two seeds in the 500 freestyle at the 2023 NCAA Men’s Championships, from the first prelims session on Thursday.

Johnston went 4:10.02 to lead the way for the Longhorns. His teammate was .49 seconds back. Cal’s Gabriel Jett, who entered with the top seed in the event, was easily into finals in 4:10.62.

Jake Magahey, who has medaled the last two years, is into the final in sixth in 4:10.83.

In the team title race, Florida gets a boost with two A finalists, Alfonso Mestre in fourth and Jake Mitchell seventh. Cal added a B finalist in Lucas Henveaux, missing out on the A final by .09 in ninth.

Arizona State didn’t get the bump it had hoped for in an off event. Andrew Gray snuck into the B final in 16th, but the Sun Devils were also 18th and 19th. Florida also had Eric Brown miss out on points as the first alternate.

NC State’s Ross Dant won the third heat of 6 in 4:11.81. He’s in the A final in eighth. David Johnston won the first circle-seeded heat, holding off a charge late by Wisconsin’s Jake Newmark, who is the fifth seed in finals. Hobson surged late to get the better of Magahey in the penultimate heat before Jett won the final heat.

Magahey won the 500 free in 2021 and was second last year to teammate Matt Sates, who is not longer with the Bulldogs. Hobson was third, a rare event in which only two of the top five finishers return from 2022. (Kieran Smith and Brooks Fail graduated.)

Jett wasn’t a factor in this event last year, finishing a distant 24th. His best time was 4:13.90. He made it back for only one of his three events. He started the week fast by splitting 1:31.35 off the front of the 800 free relay, where the Golden Bears finished third. Hobson, who led off Texas’ 800 free relay in 1:29.63, was eighth last year.

Event 3  Men 500 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
         NCAA: N 4:06.32  2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
         Meet: M 4:06.61  3/24/2022 Matthew Sates, Georgia
     American: A 4:06.32  2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
   U. S. Open: O 4:06.32  2/19/2020 Kieran Smith, Florida
         Pool: P 4:08.60  3/22/2018 Townley Haas, Texas
    Name                 Year School               Seed    Prelims        
==================================================================
                      === Preliminaries ===                       
 
  1 Johnston, David        JR Texas             4:10.95    4:10.02  
    r:+0.70  22.95        47.85 (24.90)
        1:12.96 (25.11)     1:38.23 (25.27)
        2:03.49 (25.26)     2:28.77 (25.28)
        2:54.07 (25.30)     3:19.46 (25.39)
        3:45.02 (25.56)     4:10.02 (25.00)
  2 Hobson, Luke           SO Texas             4:13.82    4:10.51  
    r:+0.71  22.58        47.46 (24.88)
        1:12.69 (25.23)     1:38.09 (25.40)
        2:03.57 (25.48)     2:29.23 (25.66)
        2:54.94 (25.71)     3:20.37 (25.43)
        3:46.13 (25.76)     4:10.51 (24.38)
  3 Jett, Gabriel          SO California        4:09.66    4:10.62  
    r:+0.67  22.68        47.54 (24.86)
        1:12.87 (25.33)     1:38.36 (25.49)
        2:04.11 (25.75)     2:29.09 (24.98)
        2:54.62 (25.53)     3:20.55 (25.93)
        3:45.67 (25.12)     4:10.62 (24.95)
  4 Mestre, Alfonso        SR Florida           4:10.15    4:10.78  
    r:+0.71  22.78        47.67 (24.89)
        1:12.95 (25.28)     1:38.59 (25.64)
        2:04.17 (25.58)     2:29.51 (25.34)
        2:55.13 (25.62)     3:20.78 (25.65)
        3:46.24 (25.46)     4:10.78 (24.54)
  5 Newmark, Jake          JR Wisconsin         4:12.96    4:10.80  
    r:+0.72  23.12        47.95 (24.83)
        1:13.42 (25.47)     1:38.83 (25.41)
        2:04.17 (25.34)     2:29.41 (25.24)
        2:54.88 (25.47)     3:20.43 (25.55)
        3:45.72 (25.29)     4:10.80 (25.08)
  6 Magahey, Jake          JR Georgia           4:09.83    4:10.83  
    r:+0.68  23.24        48.47 (25.23)
        1:14.17 (25.70)     1:39.84 (25.67)
        2:05.50 (25.66)     2:31.02 (25.52)
        2:56.52 (25.50)     3:21.60 (25.08)
        3:46.38 (24.78)     4:10.83 (24.45)
  7 Mitchell, Jake         JR Florida           4:09.85    4:11.65  
    r:+0.68  23.00        47.80 (24.80)
        1:13.30 (25.50)     1:39.14 (25.84)
        2:04.92 (25.78)     2:30.66 (25.74)
        2:55.87 (25.21)     3:20.83 (24.96)
        3:46.11 (25.28)     4:11.65 (25.54)
  8 Dant, Ross             SR NC State          4:14.29    4:11.81  
    r:+0.60  22.76        47.44 (24.68)
        1:12.56 (25.12)     1:37.77 (25.21)
        2:03.14 (25.37)     2:28.60 (25.46)
        2:54.20 (25.60)     3:20.06 (25.86)
        3:46.03 (25.97)     4:11.81 (25.78)

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