US Open 2023 – Live recap of day 1 finals

2023 US Open Swimming Championships

The 2023 US Open Swimming Championships kick off tonight in Greensboro, North Carolina. Tonight’s session will be short, with only the men’s and women’s 800m freestyle finals to kick off the competition.

Three-time defending Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky Highlights of the fastest heat of the women’s 800 freestyle. She won the world title in the event last summer (8:08.87) after setting the third-fastest time in history a month earlier in Indianapolis (8:07.07). Ledecky won the event last year with a time of 8:13.90, and holds the meet record (8:12.81) as of 2021.

Member of the World Championship team Gillian Cox He will also be in attendance in tonight’s 800 freestyle final, after finishing sixth in Fukuoka last summer. She recorded a personal best time of 8:19.73 en route to a sixth-place finish at Worlds. Cox has made significant progress in 2023, lowering her best time in the 800 meters from 8:30.38 to 8:19.73 in less than a year.

Olympic gold medalist Bobby Fink Headlines of the fastest heat in the men’s 800-meter free. His entry time of 7:38.67 leads the field by more than 12 seconds after this summer’s world champion, Ahmed Hafnawi, withdrew from the event.

Luka Mijatovic, the 14-year-old from the Pleasanton Seahawks, will be the one to watch in the fastest heat tonight. Mijatović will swim Track 1, seeded seventh with a 13-14 NAG record of 7:59.64.

You can watch tonight’s events live on YouTube:

Women’s 800 freestyle – timed final

Platform:

1. Katie Ledecky (GSC) – 8:15.91
2. Big Madden (New York) – 8:29.91
3. Gillian Cox (Texas) – 8:33.77

Katie Ledecky He opened the meet with a decisive victory in the 800 freestyle, recording a time of 8:15.91 to win by exactly 14 seconds. Ledecky’s time of 8:15.91 is about two seconds shy of the 8:13.90 she clocked to win this meet last year. Ledecky took the race strong, clocking 4:06.10 over the first 400 meters before closing out in 4:09.81. Ledecky will compete in the preliminary heats of the 400 freestyle tomorrow morning.

Big Maddenwho is currently training under Bob Bowman At Arizona State University, he clocked 8:29.91 to place second. She ran her time close to her personal best of 8:27.99, which she set to win the Pan American Games last month.

TXLA Gillian Cox She reached 8:33.77 to place third overall. Cox clocked 8:19.73 in the event, which she recorded en route to a sixth-place finish at the world championships last summer.

Men’s 800 freestyle – timed final

• World record: 7:32.12 – Lin Zhang (2009)
• American record: 7:38.67 – Bobby Fink (2023)
• US Open meet record: 7:47.27 – Chad La Tourette (2009)

Platform:

1. Charlie Clark (Ohio State University) – 7:50.49
2. David Johnston (TST) – 7:53.87
3. Ilya Sibertsev (UOFL) – 7:54.36

David Johnston, who is spending a redshirt year training under Mark Schubert in California, took an early lead through the first 550 metres. Ohio State University Charlie Clark He then took the lead and never relinquished it, clocking a final time of 7:50.49 to take the win. Clark’s time is ahead of his personal best (7:50.07), which he set at the 2022 International Team Trials.

Clark He spoke with USA Swimming after completing his raceHe made the following observations:

“This was my first 800m since the World Championships in July, so I was just focusing on my race plan more than anything else. I was trying to focus on getting out in a controlled way but trying to stay relevant in the race and not fall too far behind, and then I build the race as I go along to see how high I can finish.

“My best time is about 0.3 faster than that, so I was at my best turbulent at this time of year, so I couldn’t be happier with a time like this. It’s faster than I was.” [nationals] in the last year.”