U.S. Nationals, Day Three Men’s Finals: Ryan Erisman Demolishes 400 IM Field for Second Win of Meet
The first men’s final Thursday evening at U.S. Nationals in Irvine, Calif., featured 19-year-old Ryan Erisman dominating the men’s 400 IM, swimming a big personal-best time to win his second national title of the meet.
After that came another showdown between world-record holder Caeleb Dressel and Olympic medalist Ilya Kharun in the 100 butterfly. The session concluded with a pair of 50-meter races, with Michael Andrew highlighting the breaststroke race and World Championship finalist Quintin McCarty racing backstroke.
Men’s 400 IM
Last year, Ryan Erisman finished one spot away from qualifying for the World Championships team in the men’s 400 freestyle. At this year’s Nationals, he has already captured two national titles, even with his signature event still to come Friday. A stellar back half carried Erisman to a title in the 200 free, dropping more than a second in the process, and in the 400 IM, he collected a wire-to-wire victory.
Already with a comfortable lead after 300 meters, Erisman then finished in 57.13 to put away the field. He touched in 4:09.57, crushing his previous best time (4:12.66) by more than three seconds. In the process, he became the seventh-fastest swimmer in the world this year and the second-best American behind Olympic bronze medalist Carson Foster. That effort puts Erisman in position for a massive effort when he races in the 400 free. He already clocked 3:44.03 at the AP London International in May, and in Irvine, he has an outside shot at challenging the American record.
As for the rest of the field, a three-way race unfolded for the No. 2 spot. Noah Cakir ended up getting the touch in 4:13.28, just ahead of Michael Hochwalt (4:13.37) and Baylor Nelson (4:13.53).
Men’s 100 Butterfly
The high-profile matchup in the 100 butterfly lived up to expectations as two of the fastest swimmers in history faced off. In prelims, Caeleb Dressel swam the top qualifying time at 50.55, his quickest mark in two years, but Ilya Kharun earned the next lane over. Kharun, currently in the process of switching his national affiliation from Canada to the United States, won bronze medals in the 100 fly at the Paris Olympics and last year’s World Championships. This Nationals final marked his best chance this year to post a time rivaling the best in the world.
As expected, Dressel had the most speed in the field, taking a slight advantage off the start and going out in 23.42. But Kharun was not far back in 23.56, and midway down the back stretch, he moved into the lead. Kharun was pursuing the 50-second barrier, a time which only seven men in history have ever surpassed, but he ended up just short.
Kharun touched in 50.05, two hundredths under his best time from last year. He remained the eighth-fastest performer ever in the event, but he jumped ahead of Hungarian Olympic champion Kristof Milak as the fastest swimmer in the world this year. Kharun will hope that time holds up as most top athletes race in the coming weeks at the European Championships and Pan Pacific Championships.
Dressel came in next at 50.45, exactly one second off his world record but his quickest time since going 50.19 more than two years ago at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Dressel moved up to No. 5 in the world this year behind Kharun, Milak, Josh Liendo and Matt Temple. Third went to Rowan Cox in 50.64, the Texas-trained teenager completing a day where he dropped his best time by almost two seconds, from 52.59 to 51.42 and now this mark that ranks seventh in the world rankings.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke
In perhaps the biggest surprise of Nationals thus far, Watson Nguyen pulled off a win in the men’s 50 breast. Racing against veteran Michael Andrew, Nguyen pulled even in the final 15 meters and then ahead to claim the win. Nguyen, who just finished his sophomore season at Penn, posted a time of 26.65 to win by a quarter-second.
Nguyen dropped more than eight tenths from his best time in a day, going from an entry time of 27.49 to 26.96 for the second-best mark in prelims and now this swim that makes him the 10th-fastest swimmer in the world this year. Andrew placed second in 26.91, off the 26.74 he posted in the prelims, while Mitch Mason took third by two hundredths over Alexei Avakov, 27.08 to 27.10.
Men’s 50 Backstroke
The last championship heat of the evening saw Quintin McCarty squeeze out a second consecutive national title in the 50 back. McCarty has been swimming fast in the event all season, going 24.45 at the Indianapolis Pro Series in June and then 24.66 for the top seed out of prelims.
Here, though, he faced a tight race against Jack Wilkening before a great finish got him to the wall two hundredths ahead, 24.73 to 24.75. McCarty will be looking for a much quicker swim as he prepares to battle for a medal at the Pan Pacific Championships in two weeks. Ulises Saravia placed third in 24.90, just ahead of Finn Harland (24.91) and Devin Naoroz (24.99).
