|
| Event type

400 metres Individual Medley, Men

Date24 – 25 July 2021
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympic Aquatics Centre, 2-1, 2chome, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tatsumi-no-Mori Seaside Park, Tokyo, Japan
Participants29 from 23 countries

Japan’s Kosuke Hagino had won gold in the 400 IM at Rio in 2016, but he was no longer swimming the event. His teammate Daiya Seto, who won the 2019 World Championships in both IMs, was now considered the favorite, and had the top time of the world coming into Tokyo with 4:09.02, set at the Japanese Olympic Trials in April. Seto was coming off a six-month suspension in 2020 by the Japanese Swimming Federation for an ethics violation, having admitted to an extramarital affair. Seto’s biggest challenger was expected to be American Chase Kalisz, the silver medallist at both the 2016 Olympics and the 2019 World Championships. Kalisz had won the US Olympic Trials in 4:09.09, close behind’s Seto’s best 2021 mark.

Seto versus Kalisz never materialized as Seto shockingly finished ninth in the preliminaries and did not make the final. The prelims were led by Australian Brendon Smith with New Zealander Lewis Clareburt second, followed by Kalisz. Kalisz would lead most of the final, taking over on the second leg, the butterfly, although Clareburt took a brief lead at the end of the butterfly. Kalisz regained the lead on breaststroke and held it to win comfortably by almost a second. Behind him, his teammate Jay Litherland surprised by coming in for silver, despite having been fourth for most of the splits. Brendon Smith had likewise trailed badly most of the race but had the fastest finish and garnered the bronze medal, as Clareburt struggled in the freestyle, eventually finishing seventh.

PosSwimmerNOCR1Final
1Chase KaliszUSA4:09.65 (2 h3)4:09.42 (1)Gold
2Jay LitherlandUSA4:09.91 (=2 h4)4:10.28 (2)Silver
3Brendon SmithAUS4:09.27 (1 h4)4:10.38 (3)Bronze
4Dávid VerrasztóHUN4:09.80 (3 h3)4:10.59 (=4)
5Max LitchfieldGBR4:10.20 (4 h3)4:10.59 (=4)
6Léon MarchandFRA4:10.09 (4 h4)4:11.16 (6)
7Lewis ClareburtNZL4:09.49 (1 h3)4:11.22 (7)
8Alberto RazzettiITA4:09.91 (=2 h4)4:11.32 (8)
9Daiya SetoJPN4:10.52 (5 h4)
10Wang ShunCHN4:10.63 (6 h4)
11Yuki IkariJPN4:12.08 (5 h3)
12Jacob HeidtmannGER4:12.09 (7 h4)
13Péter BernekHUN4:12.38 (6 h3)
14Apostolos PapastamosGRE4:12.50 (7 h3)
15Joan Lluís PonsESP4:12.67 (1 h2)
16Se-Bom LeeAUS4:15.76 (2 h2)
17Arjan KnippingNED4:15.83 (3 h2)
18Maksim StupinROC4:16.21 (4 h2)
19Pier Andrea MatteazziITA4:16.31 (8 h4)
20José Paulo LopesPOR4:16.52 (1 h1)
21Brodie WilliamsGBR4:17.27 (8 h3)
22Jarod ArroyoPUR4:17.46 (5 h2)
23Richard NagySVK4:18.29 (6 h2)
24Tomás PeribonioECU4:18.73 (2 h1)
25Wang Hsing-HaoTPE4:19.06 (7 h2)
26Maksym ShemberievAZE4:19.40 (8 h2)
27Ron PolonskyISR4:21.50 (3 h1)
28Christoph MeierLIE4:25.17 (4 h1)
29Luis VegaCUB4:27.65 (5 h1)

Round One (24 July 2021 — 19:00)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTime
16Brendon SmithAUS4:09.27Q
23Lewis ClareburtNZL4:09.49Q
34Chase KaliszUSA4:09.65Q
45Dávid VerrasztóHUN4:09.80Q
=55Jay LitherlandUSA4:09.91Q
=52Alberto RazzettiITA4:09.91Q
73Léon MarchandFRA4:10.09Q
86Max LitchfieldGBR4:10.20Q
94Daiya SetoJPN4:10.52
107Wang ShunCHN4:10.63
112Yuki IkariJPN4:12.08
121Jacob HeidtmannGER4:12.09
131Péter BernekHUN4:12.38
147Apostolos PapastamosGRE4:12.50
154Joan Lluís PonsESP4:12.67
166Se-Bom LeeAUS4:15.76
175Arjan KnippingNED4:15.83
182Maksim StupinROC4:16.21
198Pier Andrea MatteazziITA4:16.31
205José Paulo LopesPOR4:16.52
218Brodie WilliamsGBR4:17.27
228Jarod ArroyoPUR4:17.46
237Richard NagySVK4:18.29
244Tomás PeribonioECU4:18.73
251Wang Hsing-HaoTPE4:19.06
263Maksym ShemberievAZE4:19.40
273Ron PolonskyISR4:21.50
286Christoph MeierLIE4:25.17
292Luis VegaCUB4:27.65

Heat One (19:00)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
15José Paulo LopesPOR4:16.520.66
24Tomás PeribonioECU4:18.730.63
33Ron PolonskyISR4:21.500.71
46Christoph MeierLIE4:25.170.68
52Luis VegaCUB4:27.650.69

Heat Two (19:05)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
14Joan Lluís PonsESP4:12.670.62
26Se-Bom LeeAUS4:15.760.63
35Arjan KnippingNED4:15.830.75
42Maksim StupinROC4:16.210.66
58Jarod ArroyoPUR4:17.460.63
67Richard NagySVK4:18.290.70
71Wang Hsing-HaoTPE4:19.060.60
83Maksym ShemberievAZE4:19.400.79

Heat Three (19:10)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
13Lewis ClareburtNZL4:09.490.65Q
24Chase KaliszUSA4:09.650.73Q
35Dávid VerrasztóHUN4:09.800.74Q
46Max LitchfieldGBR4:10.200.61Q
52Yuki IkariJPN4:12.080.57
61Péter BernekHUN4:12.380.77
77Apostolos PapastamosGRE4:12.500.69
88Brodie WilliamsGBR4:17.270.67

Heat Four (19:15)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
16Brendon SmithAUS4:09.270.66Q
=25Jay LitherlandUSA4:09.910.71Q
=22Alberto RazzettiITA4:09.910.66Q
43Léon MarchandFRA4:10.090.66Q
54Daiya SetoJPN4:10.520.60
67Wang ShunCHN4:10.630.63
71Jacob HeidtmannGER4:12.090.67
88Pier Andrea MatteazziITA4:16.310.65

Final (25 July 2021 — 10:30)

PosLaneSwimmerNOCTimeReaction
13Chase KaliszUSA4:09.420.73
27Jay LitherlandUSA4:10.280.71
34Brendon SmithAUS4:10.380.66
=46Dávid VerrasztóHUN4:10.590.79
=48Max LitchfieldGBR4:10.590.61
61Léon MarchandFRA4:11.160.67
75Lewis ClareburtNZL4:11.220.68
82Alberto RazzettiITA4:11.320.68