U.S. Nationals, Day 3 Men’s Prelims: Carson Foster, Bobby Finke Claim Center Lanes in 400 IM
Opening night at U.S. Nationals saw veterans Carson Foster and Bobby Finke claim their spots at the Singapore World Championships. Foster finished close behind Luca Urlando in the 200 butterfly while Finke never had any true competition in the 1500 freestyle. Those two swimmers raced in the final heat of the men’s 400 IM prelims and swam the top-two qualifying marks.
Thursday morning’s session also included men’s qualifying races in the 100 butterfly, 50 breaststroke and 50 backstroke.
Men’s 400 IM
His tenure as the top 400 IMer in the United States dates back to 2022, one year after he faded to third in the Olympic Trials final of the event. During that time, Foster has been consistently among the world’s top swimmers in the event, winning a pair of World Championship silvers behind Leon Marchand as well as Olympic bronze. His best time of 4:06.56 ranks him eighth all-time in the event and fourth among Americans. He is currently the third-fastest swimmer in the world for 2025 at 4:09.51.
Foster is set to return to global contention after cruising to the top prelims time in the event at Nationals. He raced against distance freestyle star Bobby Finke in the final heat, opening up an advantage on breaststroke before shutting it down on the freestyle leg. Foster came into the wall at 4:12.19, a half-second clear of Finke’s 4:12.76.
For the past three years, Foster’s fellow American representative in this event has been Chase Kalisz, but the Tokyo Olympic champion is absent from this year’s Nationals, opening up a spot for Finke or another swimmer.
Rex Maurer was back in the pool after securing his World Championships spot with his third-place finish in the 200 free. Maurer was the NCAA champion in the 400-yard IM this year, and he led throughout the first circle-seeded heat. As expected, he struggled on the breaststroke leg as Tommy Bried clawed back into contention, but he pulled away again to finish in 4:13.47, just off the best time of 4:13.17 he posted last month.
Mason Laur placed fourth in prelims in 4:15.03, followed by Baylor Nelson (4:15.70), Tommy Bried (4:15.72), Mitchell Schott (4:15.80) and Luka Mijatovic (4:16.18). Mijatovic was back in the pool after a two-second drop in the 200 free Wednesday, which shattered the National Age Group record and thrust him into an unexpected A-final. As for the medley, Mijatovic is now the fourth-fastest 15-16 swimmer ever.
David Johnston, already on the Worlds team by virtue of his runnerup finish in the 400 IM, would have qualified for the final as the fourth seed with his time of 4:15.02, but he was disqualified.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Men’s 50 Breaststroke
Men’s 50 Backstroke
