Erisman rockets to PB in 800m free for third title
Ryan Erisman wrapped his USA Swimming National Championships performance with a personal-best time of 7:43.53 to win the men's 800m freestyle and bank his third national title of the week.
Video Transcript
Take your marks.
Jason, now in an Olympic event, obviously from Tokyo and Paris.
And as Katie has done for the women, Bobby Finke has done for the men.
Look at the field.
You've got seven guys under the age of 20.
Carson Nick is 21, up, down there, up there in lane one rather.
I mean, in the middle of the pool you've got a 17, 18 and 19-year-old.
It's, the future for American middle distance and distance swimming is just through the roof.
Coming up in a couple of weeks for American swimmers, you got the likes of the Pan American countries like the US, Canada, Brazil, and then the Pacific strong powers, Japan, China, Australia.
They're sending some of their best here to the States.
And again, as Greg talked about, Rowdy, kind of a little warm-up in a couple of weeks, and even here for what we're gonna see in two summers not too far away in LA.
And three guys that may be in the mix at those Olympics in a couple of years putting on a pretty good show right now.
Yeah, they sure are.
Yeah And none bigger than William Mulgrew, another name, another male USA swimming swimmer you really wanna keep an eye on.
We went into this race thinking, Ersman, Mijatovic, Mijatovic, Ersman, who is it going to be?
Then we forgot all about this guy, Mulgrew, and what he's been able to do.
And what, the way he attacked this middle 400.
They were dead even at the 200, Jason.
And then all of a sudden, after the next 300 he started pulling away.
And now you've got Ersman going for his third title, really coming back on the guy that won the 1500.
Now he's less than a half a second behind.
And don't forget Mijatovic, what he did the last 50 in that 400 to win.
I mean, this is exactly what we thought, but this time it's three swimmers instead of two.
And Mijatovic making- A little bit a little bit.
Yeah, a little bit.
Ersman is really on the prowl.
Will he overtake Mulgrew?
Not quite.
But you know what?
He's got a little chip on his shoulder, right?
I, I, I think Ersman has something much more to swim for than even Mulgrew because of what happened in that 400.
He got chased down.
I don't think he's gonna let that happen here.
I, I just have a feeling Ersman's gonna be able to bring it home.
And now that's a body length behind.
Mijatovic can't come back off of this.
And look at Ersman go.
Well, he's already snared a couple of golds with massive personal bests at this meet in the 200 free and 400 IM.
Can he do it again?
Mulgrew trying to counter there in lane six.
Mijatovic looks like he'll end up in third.
And Ryan Ersman gonna deliver another national title.
What about another personal best?
He'll get that too.
Wow Ryan Ersman, the man of the meet.
A trio of national titles and lifetime quick swims in the world rankings for 2026.
Wow.
I mean, I, you, you just don't I wish people could realize how hard it is to go a best time in swimming.
I, I know he's 19.
You like to see that, but it's still difficult.
He just goes his best time by two seconds.
The fifth-fastest time in the world this year.
He's 19.
I'll say it again, he's 19.
I, I mean, look, the future is so bright for this guy.
All three of them.
All three of them.
Mulgrew right in front of you.
You know, right, they're dead even there.
But Mulgrew really started moving that middle 400.
But boy, what a comeback that second, or I should say the last 200 for Ersman.
At the 600 he was 5:51.
He was 1:57 plus coming home.
3:53, 4 minutes, something like that.
I mean, that's I mean, excuse me.
Yeah, I mean, unbelievable swim.
Ersman the winner, a third national crown.
Nicole's with him.
A lifetime best by almost two seconds.
We meet again.
A third national title here in Irvine, and you had to do it in comeback fashion.
Walk us through those last 200 meters.
Yeah, I think going into tonight I just wanted to have fun and race.
It's my last long course race of the year, and so that's what I'm good at, is racing.
So yeah.
Well, you certainly did that, and now again, three national titles, a bunch of personal bests this week.
How do you put this meet into words for you?
Yeah, it's fantastic, and I think I talked about it on Thursday with the 400 IM, just momentum.
You know, going to the next few years, this meet is huge for me, so really excited.
Congratulations again.
Thank you.
