By Stephen J. Thomas
ATHENS, Greece August 15. FRENCHWOMAN Laure Manaudou led from start to finish in winning the 400 meters freestyle in a stunning 4:05.34, the fourth-fastest 400 free in history.
Making the 17 year-old's swim even more impressive was the fact that it was done under windy conditions that were far from conducive to fast swimming. In addition, she had already qualified second fastest behind Natalie Coughlin in the 100 backstroke earlier in the evening.
Manaudou was under Janet Evans’ world record splits for the first half of the race, dropping 0.34 of a second behind at the 300-meter mark and finishing just 1.49 of a second adrift.
Before this meet, Manaoudou had not ranked among the top 25 performers in this event. Now she stands third!
After her race the Olympic champ said, "I did not think I’d be so far in front. It’s hard to start that fast and keep the speed up all along.”
Poland's Otylia Jedrzejczak took silver in an outstanding 4:05.84 – equal fifth all-time performer. The Polish 20-year-old had already this evening taken another silver medal behind Petria Thomas in the 100 fly.
"It was my first major success in this new event for me," she said. "It is always difficult to compete in two events in the same session, especially at the Olympics," she explained.
The USA’s Kaitlin Sandeno swam a great race to clock 4:06.19, fighting off a challenge from Romanian Camella Potec in the final lap to take bronze by 0.20 of a second.
Sandeno’s time places her third on the American all-time list behind Evans and Brooke Bennett. She said after her race, “I am very happy with my time and I’m having a great meet.”
Women 400m Freestyle Finals
Record Splits Name NOC Location Date
WR 4:03.85 59.99 2:02.14 3:03.40 EVANS Janet USA Seoul (KOR) 22 SEP 1988
OR 4:03.85 59.99 2:02.14 3:03.40 EVANS Janet USA Seoul (KOR) 22 SEP 1988
Event No: 11
Rank Lane Name NOC R.T. Time Time
Behind
1 4 MANAUDOU Laure FRA 0.89 4:05.34
30.37 EU
50m(1) 28.38
100m(1) 58.85
30.47 150m(1) 1:30.03
31.18 200m(1) 2:01.38
31.35 250m(1) 2:32.50
31.12 300m(1) 3:03.74
31.24 350m(1) 3:34.97
31.23
2 5 JEDRZEJCZAK Otylia POL 0.84 4:05.84
29.88 0.50
50m(2) 28.74
100m(2) 59.09
30.35 150m(2) 1:30.33
31.24 200m(2) 2:01.68
31.35 250m(2) 2:33.00
31.32 300m(2) 3:04.52
31.52 350m(2) 3:35.96
31.44
3 7 SANDENO Kaitlin USA 0.80 4:06.19
30.01 0.85
50m(7) 29.41
100m(=6) 1:00.54
31.13 150m(5) 1:31.69
31.15 200m(3) 2:03.05
31.36 250m(3) 2:34.14
31.09 300m(3) 3:05.19
31.05 350m(4) 3:36.18
30.99
4 3 POTEC Camelia ROM 0.94 4:06.34
30.18 1.00
50m(4) 29.23
100m(4) 1:00.17
30.94 150m(4) 1:31.64
31.47 200m(4) 2:03.20
31.56 250m(4) 2:34.17
30.97 300m(4) 3:05.46
31.29 350m(3) 3:36.16
30.70
5 6 SHIBATA Ai JPN 0.94 4:07.51
30.12 2.17
50m(3) 29.08
100m(3) 59.98
30.90 150m(3) 1:31.50
31.52 200m(5) 2:03.28
31.78 250m(5) 2:34.66
31.38 300m(5) 3:06.23
31.57 350m(5) 3:37.39
31.16
6 8 YAMADA Sachiko JPN 0.84 4:10.91
31.95 5.57
50m(8) 29.44
100m(8) 1:00.64
31.20 150m(=6) 1:32.35
31.71 200m(6) 2:04.08
31.73 250m(6) 2:35.50
31.42 300m(6) 3:07.09
31.59 350m(6) 3:38.96
31.87
7 1 MACKENZIE Linda AUS 0.80 4:10.92
31.43 5.58
50m(5) 29.28
100m(=6) 1:00.54
31.26 150m(=6) 1:32.35
31.81 200m(7) 2:04.12
31.77 250m(7) 2:35.71
31.59 300m(7) 3:07.73
32.02 350m(7) 3:39.49
31.76
8 2 COOKE Rebecca GBR 0.81 4:11.35
30.76 6.01
50m(6) 29.36
100m(5) 1:00.53
31.17 150m(8) 1:32.39
31.86 200m(8) 2:04.37
31.98 250m(8) 2:36.31
31.94 300m(8) 3:08.65
32.34 350m(8) 3:40.59
31.94
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