By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
2023 Kevin B. Perry Senior Invitational
- November 2-6, 2023
- La Mirada, California
- La Mirada Splash! Regional Aquatic Center
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2023 CA Kevin B Perry Senior Meet @ RMDA v1”
David Johnston dropped a blistering swim in the 1000-yard freestyle on Thursday during the opening session of the Kevin B. Perry Senior Invitational in La Mirada, Calif., coming within nine-tenths of the American Record.
Johnston fired off a time of 8:34.82 to mark the second-fastest swim in history, only trailing Clark Smith‘s American Record of 8:33.93 set at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite in December 2015.
Both are products of the University of Texas, with Smith graduating in 2017 after winning three individual NCAA titles during his career, while Johnston is taking an Olympic redshirt season and plans to return to the Longhorns for his senior year in 2024-25.
The 22-year-old Johnston, who is currently training under Mark Schubert at The Swim Team (TST) in California, essentially even-split his swim, flipping in 4:17.01 at the 500 before closing in 4:17.81.
When Smith set the American and NCAA Record, he was more aggressive on the front half, out in 4:14.44.
Split Comparison
| Smith, 2015 | Johnston, 2023 |
| 48.25 | 49.22 |
| 1:38.99 (50.74) | 1:41.09 (51.87) |
| 2:30.55 (51.56) | 2:33.14 (52.05) |
| 3:22.35 (51.80) | 3:25.03 (51.89) |
| 4:14.44 (52.09) | 4:17.01 (51.98) |
| 5:06.69 (52.25) | 5:08.32 (51.31) |
| 5:59.04 (52.35) | 6:00.08 (51.76) |
| 6:51.04 (52.00) | 6:51.92. (51.84) |
| 7:42.86 (51.82) | 7:43.81 (51.89) |
| 8:33.93 (51.07) | 8:34.82 (51.01) |
Johnston previously ranked 4th all-time in the event at 8:41.61, a time he produced just over 11 months ago at the Minnesota Invite. He also went .01 slower, 8:41.62, this past January in Texas’ dual with NC State.
All-Time Performers, Men’s 1000 Freestyle (SCY)
- Clark Smith, 8:33.93 – 2015 Texas Hall of Fame Invite
- David Johnston, 8:34.82 – 2023 Kevin B. Perry Senior Invite
- Erik Vendt, 8:36.49 – 2008 Southern California Grand Prix
- Connor Jaeger, 8:41.09 – 2014 UofM PostGrad Quad Meet
- Michael McBroom, 8:42.25 – 2014 OK Elite Pro-Am
TST swimmers occupied the top four spots in the men’s 1000 free, with 29-year-old Marwan El Kamash (8:51.05) and 18-year-old Isaac Fleig (8:58.86) placing 2nd and 3rd.
Fleig, who is taking a gap year and deferring his enrollment to Wisconsin to train with Schubert’s elite distance group, broke 9:00 for the first time and moves into 58th all-time in the boys’ 17-18 age group.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
In the women’s 1000 free, TST’s Sydney Wilson led the way in a time of 10:00.66, with 14-year-old Chloe Teger of Orange Regional Competitive Aquatics (ORCA) close behind in 10:01.84.
Wilson, a 17-year-old Princeton commit, improved on her previous best time of 10:04.44, while Teger knocked more than 10 seconds off her old PB of 10:12.31.
Rounding out the podium was RMDA’s Angelica Mom, who also took off more than 10 seconds in 10:16.26.
Relay Winners
- Rose Bowl Aquatics went 1-2 in the men’s 200 medley relay, with the quartet of Logan Noguchi (22.38), Alekos Binder (26.25), Ryan Makouar (21.70) and Michael Munder (21.20) combining to give the ‘B’ team the victory in 1:31.53. The ‘A’ squad was close behind in 1:31.71, with a notable 25.18 breast split from Gavin Santoso.
- In the men’s 800 free relay, Rose Bowl stormed to victory in 6:48.18 thanks to a 1:37.93 lead-off from Nathan Kim, who owns a PB of 1:37.12 set in May. Mission Viejo placed 2nd in 6:48.73.
- Results of the women’s relays were still pending on Meet Mobile at the time of publishing.
SwimSwam: David Johnston Rattles American Record With 8:34.82 1000 Free, #2 All-Time
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