Ridgefield swimmer wins bronze medal
Kieran Smith, of Ridgefield, won bronze in the finals of the 400-meter freestyle Sunday during his Olympic debut in Tokyo.
In his first Olympics, 21-year-old Ridgefield native Kieran Smith won the bronze medal for Team USA in Saturday night’s men’s 400-meter freestyle final.
Smith, competing in lane seven with the sixth best qualifying time, finished the race in 3 minutes, 43.94 seconds, behind silver medalist Jack McLoughlin from Australia (3:43.52). Tunisia’s 18-year-old Ahmed Hafnaoui won the gold medal in lane eight with a 3:43.36.
The 400 free was the second swim event final to award medals in Tokyo following the men’s 400 IM earlier in the evening. Team USA’s Chase Kalisz earned the country’s first medal of this summer’s Olympics by winning the 400 IM gold with a time of 4:09.42. Team USA’s Jay Litherland won silver in the race with a 4:10.28.
Smith started Saturday’s 400 free final immediately within the top three swimmers hitting both the 50and 100-meter turns in second place.
At the halfway point, he fell back to fourth at the 200-meter turn with a time of 1:50.92, before picking up to hit the 250- and 300meter marks in the third.
In fourth place with 50 meters left in the race, Smith sped up to pass Germany’s Henning Bennet Muhlleitner. Bennet Muhlleitner finished behind Smith at 3:44.07
Smith earned his spot in Saturday’s final after placing third in his heat with a time of 3:45.25 in his heat during the event’s opening rounds on Saturday morning.
The University of Florida junior will continue his Olympic debut this week by competing in the men’s 200-meter freestyle opening round Sunday morning.
Smith will compete in heat five of the event’s opening round at 6:25 a.m. If he advances, he will compete in the event’s semifinals on Sunday at 9:37 p.m. The men’s 200 freestyle final is scheduled for Monday at 9:43 p.m.