The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Smith earns World Championships berth at USA Swimming National Championships
06.30.2017 | Men's Swimming and Diving
Olympic gold medalist and American record holder Clark Smith secures a spot on the U.S. roster in the 400-meter freestyle.
INDIANAPOLIS – Former Longhorn Clark Smith took second in the 400-meter freestyle championship final and earned a berth to compete in the World Championships Friday evening on night four at the USA Swimming National Championships.
The top-two finishers in the 400m freestyle final were set to earn berths on the U.S. roster for next month's World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. Zane Grothe took the win at 3 minutes, 44.43 seconds, which left the second spot up for grabs between Smith and his Rio Olympics teammate, Texas rising junior Townley Haas.
Smith edged out Haas for second at 3:45.91 while Haas, who is already on the U.S. World Championships team in three events, took third at 3:46.41. Smith also will be part of the USA's 4x200m freestyle relay group given his fifth-place finish earlier this week in the 200m freestyle.
Texas-Ex Will Licon competed in the 100m breaststroke championship final and placed sixth at 1:00.67. UT rising junior John Shebat added a third-place finish in the 100m backstroke consolation final at 55.59. Incoming freshman Austin Katz took second in the same race at 55.57.
Players Mentioned
