Editorial content for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is sponsored by FINIS, a longtime partner of Swimming World and leading innovator of suits, goggles and equipment. At World Championships, Chase For Sub-4:00 In Women’s 400 Freestyle Stretches Beyond Big Three Of the 40 occasions in which the four-minute barrier has been cracked in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, three women have accounted for 39 of the performances. American star Katie Ledecky has pulled off the feat 26 times, with Aussie standout Ariarne Titmus owning nine such efforts. Four sub-4:00 performances belong to Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh, the world-record holder at 3:56.08. Because all three of these women will be at the World Championships and clash in the 400 freestyle, it’s not surprising the event has been considerably hyped. The matchup has been labeled as the latest iteration of the Race of the Century, the moniker used for a handful of special showdowns in sports history. In the pool, the last Race of the Century was the 2004 Olympic final in the 200 freestyle, an event which featured Ian Thorpe, Pieter van den Hoogenband and Michael Phelps. For a moment, though, we’re going to look at the 400 freestyle with a wider lens. Although the aforementioned triumvirate is heavily favored to sweep the podium, there are some other candidates to join the sub-four club. And if a perfect evening of racing unfolds, it’s possible that more than half the field clocks 3:59 or faster. New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather and China’s Li Bingjie are the leading contenders to move into special territory. Earlier this year, Fairweather recorded a personal-best mark of 4:00.62, so the 19-year-old is knocking on the door. Last year, she was the silver medalist in the event at the World Short Course Championships. As for Li, she is the reigning Olympic bronze medalist and short-course world-record holder in the 400 freestyle. Li possesses a best of 4:01.08. Also in the mix for a sub-4:00 outing is the other Aussie in the field, Lani Pallister. While her best of 4:02.16 is farther away than Fairweather and Li, she is a primetime performer and the reigning world champ in the short-course version of the event. Perhaps being in this exclusive field, which will include a blistering pace, will carry Pallister into the 3:59 realm. Note: The only other woman to break four minutes in the 400 freestyle is Italian Federica Pellegrini, who went 3:59.15 in 2009.
Hold on to your hats! This is going to be good.