OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Chase Kalisz is the leading qualifier in the 400-meter individual medley preliminaries at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials.
Kalisz (KAY-lish) out-touched defending Olympic champion Ryan Lochte in their heat Sunday on opening day of the eight-day meet. Kalisz finished in 4 minutes, 11.86 seconds. Lochte was second-fastest in 4:11.98.
Jay Litherland, who like Kalisz swims for Georgia, was third in 4:12.57.
At 31, Lochte is the oldest swimmer in the final. Tyler Clary edged his way into the final, finishing eighth in 4:15.41.
The five fastest heats were swum from slowest to quickest, with the remaining heats to be swum at the end of the morning prelims. It’s doubtful that swimmers from the later heats would bump any of the top-eight finishers out of the evening final.