Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) swimmer Patrick Murphy has won the men’s 400m freestyle at the South West Classic in Tucson, Arizona.

Murphy, coached by Vince Raleigh at the AIS and a member of the Australian swim team since the 2004 Athens Olympics, had to come from behind to chase down fellow Aussie team mate Robert Hurley to win in 3:55.42.

AIS swimmer Thomas Fraser-Holmes finished in third place to round off an Australia trifecta.

‘Some of the swimmers flew in from Australia 24 hours before the race and the others had just come down from altitude so this is a good lead in for next weekend’s Santa Clara International meet in California,’ Raleigh said.

‘This is definitely a good staging competition for us, but we will have to step up further next week as the US swimmers continue their preparations for their Pan Pacs Trials in July.”

Fraser-Holmes finished second in the men’s 200m freestyle recording a time of 1:51.39.