2024 U.S. Olympic Selection
Young athletes continued to perform well in the final event of the first qualifying round of the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Two new stars, Luke Whitlock (18) And Luka Mijatovic (15) recorded a personal best in the event. Whitlock stunned everyone in his final heat with a blazing time of 3:46.42, completely smashing his previous personal best of 3:49.10.
At last month's Indy May Cup, Whitlock set personal bests of 3:49.10/7:50.20/15:07.94 in the 400/800/1500 freestyle. It's clear that he's made great strides in just a month, and even before this morning's withdrawal he was a contender for a spot in Paris in the 800 freestyle. He will join the Florida Gators swim team and will train with Bobby Finke, Kieran Smith and Katie Ledecky.
With this swim, Whitlock set the second-fastest 400-meter freestyle record in U.S. history for a 17-18 year old swimmer.
All-time U.S. 17-18 Boys 400m Freestyle (LCM) competitors
- Larsen Jensen, 3:46.08 – 2004
- Luke Whitlock, 3:46.42 – 2024
- Michael Phelps, 3:46.73 – 2003
- Krete Keller / Aaron Shackel, 3:47.00 – 2000 / 2003
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Mijatovic, meanwhile, clocked a time of 3:50.71, bettering his personal best of 3:51.18 set in March. That made him the fastest American 15-year-old ever and the second-fastest in the 15-16 age group. He fell just shy of Larson-Jensen's NAG record of 3:50.68. He placed 12th overall and will compete in the 200, 800 and 1,500 meter races later next week.
Complete results (Final Qualifiers):
- Luke Whitlock (FAST), 3:46.42
- David Johnston (TST), 3:47.17
- Jake Mitchell (Floor) 3:47.76
- Aaron Shackell (CSC), 3:47.96
- Jake Magahey (South Africa), 3:48.16
- Kieran Smith (RAC) 3:48.25
- Daniel Matheson (Sunday), 3:48.57
- Bobby Finke (SPA), 3:48.63
