Men's 400 Meter Freestyle

World Record holder Ian Thorpe is retired and will not be returning to defend his back-to-back Olympic golds in this event. The fastest time put up this year so far was by 27-year-old Aussie Grant Hackett, the godfather of distance swimming. The 400 might be his best shot at a medal in Beijing, his third Olympic Games. He's got the fastest time this year at 3:43.15 but there will be three other men in the pool that have swum 3:43 this year.


Grant Hackett is the man to beat in men's distance swimming

The United States is sending Larsen Jensen (3:43.53) and Peter Vanderkaay (3:43.73) with a good shot of getting tow men on the podium. Tae Hwan Park of Korea has the third fastest time this year (3:43.59) and will be a factor in the finals. He's been winning this event since 2006 in all his major international competitions (2006 Pan Pacs, 2006 Asian Games and more impressively the 2007 Worlds in Melbourne where he beat Hackett).


Larsen Jensen and Peter Vanderkaay look for a possible 1-2 in the 400

Never discount an athlete from the host country, especially when that athlete is the 7th fastest swimmer this year. Lin Zhang of China should make it to the final heat, along with Ous Mellouli of

Medal Predictions:

Video:

Grant Hackett wins the 400 in Aussie Trials

 

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