The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Carson Foster places third in 400 IM in finals of Olympic Trials
06.13.2021 | Men's Swimming and Diving
UT freshman misses an Olympic roster spot by 0.53 seconds in Sunday’s final.
OMAHA, Neb. — University of Texas freshman Carson Foster narrowly missed earning his spot in the Tokyo Olympics after registering a third-place finish on Sunday evening in the finals of the 400-meter individual medley at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming. In addition, former Longhorn Will Licon qualified for the finals of the 100-meter breaststroke.
The top-two finishers in the individual swimming events at the U.S. Olympic Trials earn spots on the official Team USA roster.
Chase Kalisz (4:09.09) and Jay Litherland (4:10.33) posted the top two times in Sunday's final to earn their place on the Olympic roster. Litherland out-touched Carson Foster (4:10.86) by 0.53 for the second and final spot.
In all, four Texas athletes qualified among the eight finalists in the 400 IM. Sophomore Jake Foster placed fifth in a time of 4:13.74, while freshman David Johnston finished sixth (4:16.81). Former Longhorn Sam Stewart registered an eighth-place showing with a time of 4:22.83.
After narrowly making 16-person qualifying cut for the semifinals of the 100 breast with the 15th-fastest time in the morning prelims (1:00.70), Licon returned in the evening session to post the seventh-fastest effort in the semifinals (1:00.33) to advance to Monday's final.
Preliminary Session Highlights
- In the morning prelims of the 400-meter individual medley, Texas athletes grabbed four of the eight spots in the evening finals. Freshman Carson Foster swam the fastest time (4:10.50) in the prelims and was followed by sophomore Jake Foster in fifth (4:15.26), freshman David Johnston in seventh (personal-best time of 4:16.74) and former Longhorn Sam Stewart in eighth (4:17.60). Freshman Ethan Heasley finished in 35th place in a time of 4:31.25.
- In the 400-meter freestyle, freshman Coby Carrozza placed 10th in the morning prelims in a personal-best time of 3:50.02. Former Longhorns Townley Haas (3:50.89) and Jeff Newkirk (3:51.12) finished 12th and 14th, respectively. Incoming freshman Luke Hobson posted a 19th-place showing in a personal-best time of 3:52.79.
- In the prelims of the 100-meter breaststroke, former Longhorn Will Licon posted a time of 1:00.70 to qualify for the semifinals with the 15th-fastest time. Junior Charlie Scheinfeld tied for 30th place (1:02.00), and junior Andrew Couchon finished 35th (1:02.29). Incoming freshman Adam Fusti-Molnar registered a 41st-place showing in a time of 1:02.77, while incoming freshman Tim Connery placed 42nd (1:02.99).
Players Mentioned
