Ryan sets Championship Record in 400 IM prelims and qualifies first

400 IM

Ryan qualified first in the 400 IM prelims with a CR time of 4:01.76. Here are the top 8 qualifiers who will move onto the finals:

1 LOCHTE Ryan - 4:01.76
2 MELLOULI Oussama - 4:02.27
3 CLARY Scott - 4:03.02
4 LE CLOS Chad - 4:03.81
5 VERRASZTÓ Dávid - 4:04.11
6 CSEH László - 4:04.44
7 NEVO Gal - 4:06.78
8 TIKHONOV Alexander - 4:06.96

So happy to see Clary and Cseh in the finals too. I love watching them race. Also happy to see Gal Nevo of Israel. It's a relief that the Israeli swimmers were allowed to compete given the problems they had entering the UAE. Apparently the could not obtain visas because the Arab countries do not recognize Israel. Then at the parade of nations during the opening ceremonies the Israeli team was announced as "ISR," presumably for their safety so they were not identified as Israelis. It's sad when politics interfere with a political event but at least the athletes were allowed entrance to the country and are there swimming.

4 x 200m Free Relay

The U.S. qualified first for the 4 x 200m free relay. Ryan did not swim in the prelims, but will swim in the finals. The prelim swimmers were Garrett Weber Gale, David Walters, Charlie Houchin and Ricky Berens. Weber Gale and Berens had the two fastest times in the prelims and I believe they will move on to the finals with Peter Vanderkay and Ryan.

Here are the teams that qualified for the finals:

1 USA 6:56.53
WALTERS David (1:44.70)
WEBERGALE Garrett (1:43.38)
HOUCHIN Charles (1:44.28)
BERENS Richard (1:44.17)

2 Russia 6:57.48
3 Germany 6:59.83
4 France 7:00.58
5 Australia 7:02.31
6 China 7:03.30
7 Czech Republic 7:05.15
8 Brazil 7:06.20