By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tuesday, June 3 – Saturday, June 7, 2025 Indianapolis, Indiana Indiana University Natatorium LCM (50 meters) Meet Central World Championship Selection CriteriaMen’s 800 Freestyle – By The Numbers
World Record: 7:32.11 – Zhang Lin, China (2009) American Record: 7:38.67 – Bobby Finke (2023) 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Champion: Bobby Finke — 7:44.22 2025 World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut: 7:48.66Since Tokyo gold medalist Bobby Finke’s breakthrough four years ago, the men’s distance freestyle events at the U.S. international team qualifying meets have held to a similar pattern. Finke, who added an Olympic silver medal in this event to his collection in Paris, is the clear pick for the top spot. He’s reset the American record four times, bringing it down to a 7:38.67 that ranks in the top ten all-time.
Finke has got the arc of his season down—he’s figured out how to perform his best at the biggest meet of the year, which he’s done since the summer of 2021.
U.S. Qualifying Championships World Championships or Olympic Games 2021 7:48.22 7:41.87 2022 7:43.32 7:39.36 2023 7:40.34 7:38.67 2024 7:44.22 7:38.75Still, he gave us a hint about the kind of form he’s on this season at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim. In the wake of his training partner Katie Ledecky’s 800 freestyle world record, Finke checked in with a 7:50.79, which is the fastest he’s ever been in the lead-up to a qualifying championship. It’s no surprise to see that swim install him as the fastest American this season and he currently ranks 15th in the world.
It would be a surprise to see Finke show all his cards at the upcoming U.S. Nationals but he’s so far ahead of the field that he has a lot of room to play with as he looks to win, but also to put himself in a position be at his best for the 2025 World Aquatic Championships and an increasingly tight men’s distance freestyle field.
His gap to the rest of the field got bigger last week as his Olympic teammate Luke Whitlock announced he would be sitting out the U.S. Nationals as he rehabs a shoulder injury and tries to prevent surgery. Last summer, Whitlock was one of the rising stars to qualify for the Paris Games, blazing a lifetime best 7:45.19. The swim tied him with Jordan Wilimovsky as the fifth-fastest American man all-time and without him, the race for the second qualifying spot has become much more open.
So, let’s look at the top contenders for the roster spot.
Recent Long-Course Worlds Qualifiers
Perhaps the easiest place to start is the swimmers who have recently represented the U.S. at the World Championships. In this field, we expect that to be David Johnston and Charlie Clark.
Johnston, of course, is also an Olympian; he qualified in the 1500 freestyle and finished 18th in Paris. He took an Olympic redshirt year from Texas to prepare for Trials and a potential Olympic berth, training with Mark Schubert’s distance crew at The Swim Team. Taking a break from the NCAA season allowed him the flexibility to race at the 2024 World Championship. Johnston popped a 7:48.20 in Doha, breaking 7:50 for the first time.
David Johnston (photo: Jack Spitser)
That swim is still his lifetime best. He had a strong college season after the Olympics, now back in Austin and training with new head coach Bob Bowman. He swam a lifetime best 14:26.00 to win the 1650-yard freestyle at the SEC Championships, but we have yet to see how he will translate his yards improvements to the 800-meter freestyle.
Johnston scratched this event at the Longhorn Elite Invite, leaving us to guess at what form he’ll bring to Indianapolis. However, his lifetime best gives him an edge against the rest of the field for second place as one of the few men in this race not only faster than 7:50, but also faster than the World Aquatics ‘A’ cut of 7:48.66.
Clark joined Johnston at the 2024 World Championship, making it three-straight long-course World Championship appearances. He made his first long-course Worlds team in 2022 in the 800 freestyle, then qualified for the 2023 World Championship in the 1500 freestyle. Clark has been quiet for the past months; he missed qualifying for the Olympics, finishing 6th in this event with a 7:57.28. He put together a season-best 7:52.83 to win the Speedo Summer Championship in July.
Clark has been busy since wrapping up his NCAA season for Ohio State; he raced at the Open Water National Championship, earning a spot on the U.S. National Open Water team for the first time in his career. Then, he raced at the Open Water World Cup in Ibiza. He’s also raced at a club meet to get some meters racing done in the pool, clocking 3:56.64/15:38.96 in the 400/1500 freestyle. Clark may have a newfound passion and focus for open water swimming, but we currently still expect him to race in Indianapolis.
NCAA Stars
Rex Maurer had a breakout sophomore campaign in the NCAA after transferring to Texas. Maurer made waves in November by breaking the American record in the 500-yard freestyle. Then, he won the 500 freestyle and 400 IM titles at the NCAA Championships.
There’s a lot of anticipation about what Maurer can bring to the long-course season and he showed a bit of what he’s capable of at the Longhorn Elite Invite. In the 800 freestyle on the final day of the meet, Maurer swam a lifetime best 7:51.19, becoming the second-fastest American this season. He dropped almost 20 seconds with the swim; his best time before last weekend was an 8:10.00 from November 2023.
Credit: Jason Wang / Peak Images
It was a huge announcement on Maurer’s behalf, as he looks to parlay his improvements in yards into qualifying for his first senior international team. Maurer did not race this event at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, but in essentially one swim, he’s become one of the major swimmers to watch.
Arizona State senior Daniel Matheson just wrapped up his collegiate career in the desert. Matheson was third in this event at Lucas Oil Stadium, clocking a lifetime best 7:49.34. He hasn’t raced this event since then, nor did he race at the Sun Devil Open last weekend. Whether that means Matheson has hung the goggles up remains to be seen, but if he’s in Indianapolis, expect him to be right in the middle of the fight for the second roster spot.
After taking an Olympic redshirt year and training with Johston in California, former 1650-yard freestyle NCAA champion Will Gallant had a quiet 2024-25 season back at NC State, finishing 14th in the event at the NCAA Championships. He did not head to the TAC Titans Spring Fling club meet like some of his Wolfpack teammates, so we’ll likely be waiting for the psych sheets to see if he’s going to take a run at the U.S. Nationals. He owns a lifetime best of 7:50.75 from the 2023 U.S Nationals—if he shows up on that form, he’ll be in the mix too.
Gallant’s teammate Lance Norris did make the quick trip to Cary, and had an excellent outing. Norris made big strides during his junior season with the Wolfpack, improving to a 4:14.22/14:38.61 in the 500/1650-yard freestyle. This weekend, he began to show how he’s bringing those gains into meters, firing off a lifetime best 7:56.09. That improves from the 7:59.84 he swam for 11th at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Another distance freestyle breakout during this NCAA season was Kentucky’s Carson Hick. He shattered his lifetime best in both the 500/1650-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships, clocking 4:10.27 in the 500 free and 14:30.35 in the 1650 freestyle, finishing sixth in the latter. His 1650 freestyle time improved by 13 seconds from the lifetime best that he swam at the Tennessee Invitational in November. He hasn’t raced since, but it seems that with all the gains he made in the bathtub this season that he would stand to improve on the 7:59.62 best he swam for 10th at last summer’s Olympic Trials.
Finally, Joshua Brown, the former Sandpiper, just finished his freshman year at Michigan. He got his long-course season underway with an 8:10.43 for sixth in Fort Lauderdale and is eyeing a trip under the 8:00 barrier for the first time in his career this season. He owns a lifetime best 8:00.17 from the fall of 2023.
Club and Junior Swimmers
Until Maurer dove in this weekend, it was Alec Enyeart—a former Longhorn—who was the second-fastest American in the 800 freestyle this season. Now racing for Tsunami Swim Team of Kansas City, Enyeart swam 7:54.38 at the Sacramento Pro Swim. The effort marked his first lifetime best in the event in nearly two years, improving from the 7:58.14 he swam at the 2023 U.S. Nationals by 3.76 seconds.
While many of the swimmers in this field haven’t raced since their college season, Enyeart has had a busy spring, racing in four long-course meets including two Pro Swims. Enyeart bypassed the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials but looks set to make an impact if he returns to the international stage in Indianapolis.
Luka Mijatovic (photo: Jack Spitser)
Then, there’s a handful of junior club swimmers in the hunt as well. Probably the most well-known name is Luka Mijatovic, who has been busy breaking national age group records it feels like non-stop. Mijatovic, and all the juniors, have other qualification opportunities on the line in Indianapolis, including a 2025 World Junior Championship berth. Mijatovic swam a lifetime best 7:56.91 at the Junior Pan Pac Championships in August, taking fourth there. He has already broken eight minutes this season, swimming 7:59.09 in Westmont before shifting back to yards for his sophomore high school season.
It was his American teammate Luke Ellis who claimed gold at that championship, firing off a lifetime best 7:52.40. It was a big swim for Ellis, who is set to join an increasingly deep distance freestyle group at Indiana this fall. Ellis swam a season-best 8:04.50 for third at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim as he gets set for this season’s qualifying meets. Notably, Ellis finished fifth in prelims of the 800 freestyle at Olympic Trials (with a then-lifetime best 7:54.26) but he scratched out of the final, bumping Clark in.
Long Island Aquatic Club’s Sean Green did swim in the Olympic Trials final last summer. He finished eighth after swimming a lifetime best 7:56.47 to qualify for the top eight. Green owns a season-best of 8:17.45 this season. That’s notable really only because he’s swum this race this season, rather than being a red flag for what the Georgia commit could bring to U.S. Nationals.
Finally, William Mulgrew is another junior to watch. The Harvard commit was only 40th in the race at Olympic Trials but made a big leap at the Speedo Summer Championships, finishing third with a 7:57.71. That was his first swim under the 8:00 barrier; he got his long-course season started with an 8:09.67 in Fort Lauderdale.
SwimSwam’s Picks
Rank Swimmer Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Bobby Finke 7:50.79 7:38.67 2 Rex Maurer 7:51.19 7:51.19 3 David Johnston — 7:48.20 4 Daniel Matheson — 7:49.34 5 Luke Ellis 8:04.60 7:52.40 6 Luka Mijatovic 7:59.09 7:56.91 7 Alec Enyeart 7:54.38 7:54.38 8 Sean Green 8:17.45 7:56.47Dark Horse: Gabriel Manteufel — While we’re on the subject of club swimmers, Gabriel Manteufel is another name to keep an eye on. He swam a lifetime best 8:03.23 at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim. He’d need another decent sized drop to make a push for the final, but after already taking almost a second off his best, that could be in the cards for the high school junior and Indiana commit.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025 U.S. World Trials Previews: Finke Leads Men’s 800 Free Ahead Of An Open Race For Second
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