Olympic Swimming Top Races, No. 9: Could World Record Go Down in Men’s 400 Freestyle?
The Olympic swimming competition will begin Saturday, July 27, with the best swimmers in the world competing for medals in 28 individual races and seven relays over nine days of competition. Before that, Swimming World will count down the top-10 most anticipated races of the Games, where we can expect to find the best races and where the most decorated athletes will be racing for history.
The only reason the men’s 400 freestyle does not sit higher on the list of most anticipated Olympic races is the lack of established stars racing the event in Paris. Just two swimmers entered in the event have ever won Olympic medals: Elijah Winnington, one of the favorites as he was three years ago in Tokyo, owns a bronze medal as a prelims relay swimmer while Kieran Smith took bronze in this event at the last Games, although he has not come close to reaching his best time (3:43.94) since then.
But for the first time in more than a decade, the world record is in danger. The record belongs to Paul Biedermann at 3:40.07, set at the height of the polyurethane-suit era of 2009. Biedermann broke Ian Thorpe’s previous record by one hundredth before taking down Michael Phelps’ mark in the 200 free two days later, and in the process, he became the poster child for how the rubber suits aided some swimmers (including muscular ones such as himself) more than others. When the suit rules were changed, Biedermann remained a strong 200 freestyler on the global stage, but he never contended for an international medal in the 400.
In the decade-and-a-half since, swimmers have chased that 3:40 barrier that narrowly eluded Thorpe on numerous occasions and then Biedermann on that one occasion in 2009. China’s Sun Yang would come close twice, clocking 3:40.29 in 2011 and then 3:40.14 on his way to gold at the 2012 Olympics, but after that, it would be more than a decade until another swimmer went sub-3:41, and no one in the Tokyo Olympic final was even under 3:43.
Lukas Martens — Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
But the speed picked up significantly in 2022, first with Germany’s Lukas Martens clocking 3:41.60 early in the year and then Winnington out-dueling him for World Championships gold with a time of 3:41.22. One year after that, Winnington struggled to keep pace in the global final and Martens sat in third place throughout as Australia’s Sam Short and Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui shined.
Short and Hafnaoui swam well under world-record pace until the final length of the race, and the two swimmers were never separated by more than a few tenths during the second half. At the finish, Short got to the wall in 3:40.68, two hundredths ahead of Hafnaoui. They were the fourth and fifth men ever to break 3:41.
Then, in April 2024, Martens would join them as he clocked 3:40.33 at the German Championships. That swim set himself up as a slight favorite for gold in Paris, but the race will be challenging. Hafnaoui is the reigning gold medalist from Tokyo, but he is unlikely to swim in the Olympics after upheaval in his training and struggling at the World Championships in February. But the Australians are both hitting impressive times in advance of the Olympics: after a down 2023, Winnington has clocked as fast as 3:41.41 this year, with Short just behind at 3:41.64.
Additionally, South Korea’s Kim Woomin has emerged as a legitimate threat in the event this year after edging out Winnington and Martens to win the world title in February. He owns a top time of 3:42.42, which ranks fourth in the world this year and 12th all-time.
Germany’s Oliver Klemet will be the second representative for his country after recording a mark of 3:42.81 while veteran Felix Aubock will chase his first Olympic medal after winning the European title in 3:43.24. Brazil’s Guilherme Costa has been a looming presence in the event in recent years while Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux has recently emerged. We’ll see if either American, Smith or Aaron Shackell, can pull a surprise here, but after no U.S. swimmer qualified for the final at last year’s World Championships, this looks like the country’s weakest event overall.
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Firstly no US finalist.
A WR, for sure!
But whom?
Trust it’s one of the Aussies.
Hopefully Aussies Gold and Silver with Germany Bronze and All three under Biedermann’s time!
How small.
A post that dreams big dreams for the (Kanga1)roos performances, but then the #1 priority expressed is that there is no US finalist.
Small.
Firstly I’ve read in a rival blog that the US may not final in this event. The basis of my statement.
It would be good for overweening US hubris if this was the case.
Minnow Australia never has finalists in every event. It’s not a big deal and we’re used to it. Disappointing,sure, but as a small nation of 26million people we are accepting.
The US needs a bit of humility.
It would be both refreshing and humorous for the rest of the World to see!