EINDHOVEN, Netherlands, March 21. FRANCE's Alain Bernard finally caught up to Pieter van den Hoogenband in the men's 100 free at the European Championships as he shot down the world record in the event.
Bernard dropped a remarkable time of 47.60 during the semifinal round of the men's 100 free at the Euro Champs to surpass Hoogie's global standard of 47.84 set in 2000.
Bernard took the swim out in a blazing fast time of 22.88 before coming home in an equally-impressive time of 24.72.
Bernard becomes the first Frenchmen to own the world record in the event since the similarly named Alain Gottvalles clocked a 52.9 in Budapest back in 1964. Unfortunately, Gottvalles did not live long enough to see the record return to his homeland as he passed away earlier this month.
World Record Progression
Courtesy of USA Swimming
1:05.80 Zoltan Halmay HUN Vienna 12/3/1905
1:05.60 Charles Daniels USA London 7/1/1908
1:02.80 Charles Daniels USA New York 4/15/1910
1:02.40 Kurt Bretting FRG Brussels 4/6/1912
1:01.60 Duke Kahanamoku USA Hamburg 7/20/1912
1:01.40 Duke Kahanamoku USA New York 8/9/1918
1:00.40 Duke Kahanamoku USA Antwerp 8/24/1920
58.6 Johnny Weissmuller USA Alameda 7/9/1922
57.4 Johnny Weissmuller USA Miami 2/17/1924
56.8 Peter Fick USA New Haven 3/2/1934
56.6 Peter Fick USA New Haven 3/5/1935
56.4 Peter Fick USA New Haven 2/11/1936
55.9 Alan Ford USA New Haven 4/13/1944
55.8 Alex Janey FRA Mentone 9/15/1947
55.4 Alan Ford USA New Haven 6/29/1948
54.8 Dick Cleveland USA New Haven 4/1/1954
55.4^ John Hendricks AUS Melbourne 11/11/1956
55.2 John Devitt AUS Sydney 1/19/1957
54.6 John Devitt AUS Brisbane 1/28/1957
54.4 Stephen Clark USA Los Angeles 8/18/1961
53.6 Manuel dos Santos BRA Rio de Janeiro 9/20/1961
52.9 Alain Gottvalles FRA Budapest 9/13/1964
52.6 Kenneth Walsh USA Winnipeg 7/27/1967
52.6e Zachary Zorn USA Long Beach 9/2/1968
52.2 Michael Wenden AUS Mexico City 10/19/1968
51.9 Mark Spitz USA Los Angeles 8/23/1970
51.47 Mark Spitz USA Chicago 8/5/1972
51.22 Mark Spitz USA Munich 9/3/1972
51.12 James Montgomery USA Long Beach 6/21/1975
51.11 Andrew Coan USA Ft.Lauderdale 8/3/1975
50.59 James Montgomery USA Kansas City 8/23/1975
50.39 James Montgomery USA Montreal 7/24/1976
49.99 James Montgomery USA Montreal 7/25/1976
49.44 Jonty Skinner SAF Philadelphia 8/14/1976
49.36 Ambrose 'Rowdy' Gaines USA Austin 4/3/1981
49.24 Matt Biondi USA Mission Viejo 8/6/1985
48.95 Matt Biondi USA Mission Viejo 8/6/1985
48.74 Matt Biondi USA Orlando 6/24/1986
48.42 Matt Biondi USA Austin 8/10/1988
48.21 Alexander Popov RUS Monte Carlo 6/18/1994
48.18r Michael Klim AUS Sydney 9/16/2000
47.84sf Pieter van den Hoogenband NED Sydney 9/19/2000
47.60sf Alain Bernard FRA Eindhoven 3/21/2008