400 Free Results / Naples 2019
NAPLES, Italy – Purdue alumna Kaersten Meitz was victorious in the 400-meter freestyle by more than four seconds, winning gold for the United States in dominant fashion Wednesday at the World University Games.
Meitz won the event final with a time of 4:05.80, besting silver-medalist Linda Caponi (4:10.53) of Italy by 4.73 seconds. Michigan's Sierra Schmidt (4:11.37) claimed the bronze for the USA.
Meitz's time ranks third best for the U.S. and 10th best in the world this year.
It was her second gold medal of the 2019 World University Games and third career medal. She also helped the USA's 4x200-meter freestyle relay win gold this year and silver in 2017.
However, the individual gold elevates Meitz to a unique standing among Boilermakers. She's the first member of Purdue swimming & diving to win a gold medal in an individual event at the World University Games.
Meitz graduated in 2018 as Purdue's record holder in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle races. She also contributed to program records in the 400 medley relay in 2016 and 2018. The four-year individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships was a four-time All-American, highlighted by being a championship finalist in the 500 free as a senior. At the Big Ten Championships, she won bronze in the 500 free in 2017 and silver as a senior the following year.
Meitz has continued to train under the guidance of head coach John Klinge at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center. She was added to the USA Swimming National team in September 2017 after returning from the World University Games in Taipei.
She's in line to compete at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June of next year. It will be her second appearance at the Olympic Trials.
Current Purdue divers Emily Bretscher (USA), Greg Duncan (USA) and Emily Meaney (Australia) also competed at the World University Games this year. All three Boilermakers finished seventh in their preliminary rounds. Duncan was a finalist on 3-meter.
NAPLES, Italy – Purdue alumna Kaersten Meitz was victorious in the 400-meter freestyle by more than four seconds, winning gold for the United States in dominant fashion Wednesday at the World University Games.
Meitz won the event final with a time of 4:05.80, besting silver-medalist Linda Caponi (4:10.53) of Italy by 4.73 seconds. Michigan's Sierra Schmidt (4:11.37) claimed the bronze for the USA.
Meitz's time ranks third best for the U.S. and 10th best in the world this year.
It was her second gold medal of the 2019 World University Games and third career medal. She also helped the USA's 4x200-meter freestyle relay win gold this year and silver in 2017.
However, the individual gold elevates Meitz to a unique standing among Boilermakers. She's the first member of Purdue swimming & diving to win a gold medal in an individual event at the World University Games.
Meitz was the top seed in the event entering the day and performed like it in the morning prelims, winning the fourth and final heat with a time of 4:13.08. That was a full second better than any of the other 21 swimmers to compete in the prelims. As the top seed in the final, she remained in lane 4 and won handily while improving on her prelim time by 7.28 seconds."Absolutely brilliant; look at the time!!"@kaerstenmtz had a huge lead as she closed out her victory in the 400m Free at #Napoli2019. #BoilerUp ??????pic.twitter.com/7PnHEO0yYo
— Purdue Swimming (@PurdueWSwim) July 10, 2019
Meitz graduated in 2018 as Purdue's record holder in the 500-, 1,000- and 1,650-yard freestyle races. She also contributed to program records in the 400 medley relay in 2016 and 2018. The four-year individual qualifier for the NCAA Championships was a four-time All-American, highlighted by being a championship finalist in the 500 free as a senior. At the Big Ten Championships, she won bronze in the 500 free in 2017 and silver as a senior the following year.
Meitz has continued to train under the guidance of head coach John Klinge at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center. She was added to the USA Swimming National team in September 2017 after returning from the World University Games in Taipei.
She's in line to compete at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in June of next year. It will be her second appearance at the Olympic Trials.
Current Purdue divers Emily Bretscher (USA), Greg Duncan (USA) and Emily Meaney (Australia) also competed at the World University Games this year. All three Boilermakers finished seventh in their preliminary rounds. Duncan was a finalist on 3-meter.