OMAHA, Neb. — Connecticut-native Kieran Smith booked his ticket to the Tokyo Games this weekend with a dominating performance at the U.S. Olympic trials.
Smith, an Olympic rookie who just completed his junior year at Florida, shaved nearly 3 seconds off his previous personal best to win the 400 freestyle in Omaha. He finished in 3 minutes, 44.86 seconds.
Second-place finisher Jake Mitchell finished 3 minutes, 48.17 seconds. Third-place finisher Ross Dant finished at 3 minutes, 48.30 seconds.
“I’m really excited with that swim,” said Smith, whose previous best was 3:47.71. “I look forward to hopefully improving on that swim and being competitive with the rest of the world.”
The former Ridgefield High School star’s Olympic debut will also mark the first time he’s on the national team. He said he knows he’ll need to go even faster to have a shot at a medal – especially against a powerful Australian squad.
“For me, the biggest challenge is carrying my momentum from halfway down the pool to the wall,” Smith told Swimming World Magazine. “Growing up, I didn’t have much access to a long course pool, so that was something I kind of struggled with in long course. Since coming to Florida, I’ve been able to develop some better power, some better efficiency with my stroke to carry me all the way down the pool. The 500, it’s fun because you get a wall every 11 or 12 seconds, but the long course pool is the big boy pool.”
Smith is the second Ridgefield High School alum to qualify for the Olympics in swimming. Janel Jorgensen went to the Seoul Olympics in 1988 after winning two gold medals at the PAN American Games.
Smith is also competing in the 400 IM, 200 Free, 100 Free, 800 Free, 200 Back, and 200 IM. He will swim next in the 200 free on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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