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≡ USA SWIMMING NATIONALS ≡
The penultimate day of the USA Swimming national championships in Indianapolis saw yet another sensational swim by the great Katie Ledecky, but pleasant surprises from teen swimmers who may be stars at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The races:
● Women/400 m Free:
Superstar Ledecky led the heats at 4:03.16, with 200 m Free winner Claire Weinstein second at 4:07.45, the clear favorites in the evening.
Ledecky took a 0.90-second lead after 100 m of the final and was up 1.55 at 200 m and on world-record pace. She slowed slightly in the third 100 but extended to a 1.74-second lead, and finished with just more than a body-length win in 3:58.56, the no. 22 performance in history (she has 11 of them).
Weinstein was alone in second and got a lifetime best of 4:00.05, moving her to no.7 all-time, and remaining no. 4 on the 2025 world list. Tokyo Olympian Bella Sims was third in 4:07.11.
● Men/400 m Free:
Sixteen-year-old Luka Mijatovic (Pleasanton, Ca. high school) led the qualifying with a lifetime best of 3:45.89, moving to no. 10 on the 2025 world list, and setting national age-group 15-16 and 17-18 records!
Off the start in the final, Kieran Smith, the Tokyo Olympic bronze winner, was in lane one but had the lead at the 100 and 200 m marks. Rex Maurer, the Texas star who won the NCAA 500-yard Free title, took the lead by the 250 m mark, with Smith still close and 200 m Free winner Luke Hobson coming on for third. Maurer turned first at the 350 mark and rolled to a brilliant win with a lifetime best of 3:43.33, now no. 2 in the world for 2025. It’s also the fastest ever swum on U.S. soil and makes him the no. 3 performer in American history.
Smith and Hobson faded and Mijatovic came on and got second in 3:45.71, no. 11 in the world for 2025. Ryan Erisman moved well on the final lap for third in 3:46.01, with Smith fifth (3:47.17) and Hobson sixth (3:47.47).
● Women/100 m Breast:
Star Kate Douglass, the Olympic 200 m Breast winner, was the fastest qualifier in 1:06.27, followed by Rio 2016 Breast gold medalist Lilly King (1:06.57).
The final was King’s last race in the U.S., as she has announced her retirement at the end of this season. And she was out well, taking the lead halfway into the first lap and turning in front.
But Douglass was strong in the middle of the second lap and made up the deficit steadily and got to the lead with about 15 m left and touched first in a lifetime best 1:05.79, now no. 4 in the world for 2025. King was a clear second in 1:06.02, also a seasonal best and now no. 8 on the 2025 world list.
Alex Walsh, the Tokyo 2020 200 m Medley silver winner, was third in 1:06.50, and perhaps just as amazing as any of the top finishers was 47-year-old Gabby Rose, who made the final and finished seventh in 1:08.54!
● Men/100 m Breast:
The 200 m Breast winner, Josh Matheny, was the only one under a minute in the morning heats, at 59.80, with upset 50 m Breast winner Campbell McKean and runner-up Michael Andrew next at 1:00.18 and 1:00.27.
Off the start in the final, Matheny turned first in a tight race with McKean (+0.06) and Andrew (+0.27), but McKean got going in the middle of the final lap and got to the wall first in the final 10 m and finished in 58.96, for his second win of the championships and no. 3 in the world for 2025 and now equal-sixth all-time U.S.
Matheny was a clear second in 59.18, no. 8 on the season, with Nate Germonprez third (59.89) and then Andrew (59.99).
● Women/100 m Back:
World-record holder Regan Smith, 2022 World Champion and two-time Paris Olympic medalist in the event, led the qualifying at 58.06, ahead of the 50 m Back winner and American Record-setter Katharine Berkoff (58.75).
Berkoff had a tiny, 0.11-second lead at the turn in the final, but Smith moved up steadily and had the lead with 25 m left and touched the clear winner in 57.69, the no. 21 mark in history (she has 11 of them).
Second was Berkoff at 58.13 and Claire Curzan and Leah Shackley tied for third at 58.60.
Smith said in her Peacock interview afterwards that she was happy with the win, but also the other second-places in the 50 and 200 m Back and 200 m Fly, as she hadn’t done too much hard training this year. So, pretty good to make the team in four events for Singapore!
● Men/100 m Back:
With established stars Ryan Murphy and Hunter Armstrong taking the year off, nineteen-year-old Daniel Diehl had the fastest qualifier at 53.33, with 200 m Back champion Jack Aikins second-fastest at 53.35.
In the final, the field was incredibly close through 45 m, with Jack Wilkening touching first at the turn over 2024 Olympic Trials 5th-placer Tommy Janton and Diehl. It looked like Aikins and Diehl would duel for the win in the middle of the pool, but Janton – in lane one – kept steady and touched first in a shocker in a lifetime best of 53.00, now 11th in the world in 2025. He came in ranked 26th!
Aikins was second in 53.19, with Diehl in 53.35 and Keaton Jones fourth in 53.79.
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The 2025 Nationals finish on Saturday with the men’s 1,500 m Free, the women’s 800 m Free, the women’s and men’s 200 m Medley and the 50 m Freestyles.
The meet is being shown on the USA Swimming Web site (both sessions) and NBC’s Peacock streaming service for the evening session at 7 p.m. Eastern.
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