List of swimming world records

Michael Phelps (USA), holder of six current world records

The swimming world records are the best times that were set on the respective routes in compliance with the regulations of the world association FINA . World records are currently being set for men and women in 43 disciplines each, including 20 top marks on the long track (50 m track) and 23 top marks on the short track (25 m track). In addition, world records are recorded in mixed relays on both the long and the short course. Most of the current long track world records (9) were set at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. With 9 new records, most of the short course world records come from the 2014 short course world championships in Doha.

World records long track (50 meters)

Record was achieved:

without a swimsuit (especially after the ban on swimsuits from 2010)

with swimsuit

with partial swimsuit (bare upper body, pants up to the knees)

Due to a lack of sources, a 100% statement about swimwear is not yet possible. Since these world records all but one date from the years 2008/09 and at that time almost all world-class swimmers started with a high-tech suit, one can assume that these world records were also achieved with a swimsuit.

Men

discipline	time	swimmer	nation	date	meeting	place	Movie
50 m freestyle	20.91	César Cielo Filho	Brazil	December 18, 2009	Brazilian championships	São Paulo , Brazil	​
100 m freestyle	46.91	César Cielo Filho	Brazil	July 30, 2009	World championships	Rome , Italy	​
200 m freestyle	1: 42.00	Paul Biedermann	Germany	July 28, 2009	World championships	Rome , Italy	​
400 m freestyle	3: 40.07	Paul Biedermann	Germany	July 26, 2009	World championships	Rome , Italy	​
800 m freestyle	7: 32.12	Zhang Lin	People's Republic of China	July 29, 2009	World championships	Rome , Italy
1500 m freestyle	14: 31.02	Sun Yang	People's Republic of China	4th August 2012	Olympic games	London , UK	​
50 m back	24.00	Kliment Kolesnikow	Russia	4th August 2018	European championships	Glasgow , UK	​
100 m back	51.85	Ryan Murphy	United States	August 13, 2016	Olympic games	Rio de Janeiro , Brazil	​
200 m back	1: 51.92	Aaron Peirsol	United States	July 31, 2009	World championships	Rome , Italy	​
50 m chest	25.95	Adam Peaty	United Kingdom	July 25, 2017	World championships	Budapest , Hungary	​
100 m chest	56.88	Adam Peaty	United Kingdom	July 21, 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea	​
200 m chest	2: 06.12	Anton Tschupkow	Russia	26th July 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea
50 m butterfly	22.27	Andrij Howorov	Ukraine	1st July 2018	Sette Colli Trophy	Rome , Italy
100 m butterfly	49.50	Caeleb Dressel	United States	26th July 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea
200 m butterfly	1: 50.73	Kristóf Milák	Hungary	July 24, 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea	​
200 m layers	1: 54.00	Ryan Lochte	United States	July 28, 2011	World championships	Shanghai , China	​
400 m layers	4: 03.84	Michael Phelps	United States	August 10, 2008	Olympic games	Beijing , China	​
4 × 100 m freestyle	3: 08.24	Michael Phelps (47.51) Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02) Cullen Jones (47.65) Jason Lezak (46.06)	United States	August 11, 2008	Olympic games	Beijing , China	​
4 × 200 m freestyle	6: 58.55	Michael Phelps (1: 44.49) Ricky Berens (1: 44.13) David Walters (1: 45.47) Ryan Lochte (1: 44.46)	United States	July 31, 2009	World championships	Rome , Italy	​
4 × 100 m layers	3: 27.28	Aaron Peirsol (52.19) Eric Shanteau (58.57) Michael Phelps (49.72) David Walters (46.80)	United States	August 2, 2009	World championships	Rome , Italy	​

Women

discipline	time	Female swimmer	nation	date	meeting	place	Movie
50 m freestyle	23.67	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	29th July 2017	World championships	Budapest , Hungary	​
100 m freestyle	51.71	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	23rd July 2017	World championships	Budapest , Hungary	​
200 m freestyle	1: 52.98	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	July 29, 2009	World championships	Rome , Italy	​
400 m freestyle	3: 56.46	Katie Ledecky	United States	7th August 2016	Olympic games	Rio de Janeiro , Brazil	​
800 m freestyle	8: 04.79	Katie Ledecky	United States	August 12, 2016	Olympic games	Rio de Janeiro , Brazil	​
1500 m freestyle	15: 20.48	Katie Ledecky	United States	May 16, 2018	Pro swim series	Indianapolis , United States	​
50 m back	26.98	Liu Xiang	People's Republic of China	August 21, 2018	Asian Games	Jakarta , Indonesia	​
100 m back	57.57	Regan Smith	United States	28th July 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea
200 m back	2: 03.35	Regan Smith	United States	26th July 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea	​
50 m chest	29.40	Lilly King	United States	July 30, 2017	World championships	Budapest , Hungary	​
100 m chest	1: 04.13	Lilly King	United States	July 25, 2017	World championships	Budapest , Hungary	​
200 m chest	2: 19.11	Rikke Møller Pedersen	Denmark	1 August 2013	World championships	Barcelona , Spain	​
50 m butterfly	24.43	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	July 6, 2014	Swedish championships	Borås , Sweden	​
100 m butterfly	55.48	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	7th August 2016	Olympic games	Rio de Janeiro , Brazil	​
200 m butterfly	2: 01.81	Liu Zige	People's Republic of China	October 21, 2009	National Games of China	Jinan , China	​
200 m layers	2: 06.12	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	3rd August 2015	World championships	Kazan , Russia	​
400 m layers	4: 26.36	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	August 6, 2016	Olympic games	Rio de Janeiro , Brazil	​
4 × 100 m freestyle	3: 30.65	Emma McKeon (53.41) Brittany Elmslie (53.12) Bronte Campbell (52.15) Cate Campbell (51.97)	Australia	August 6, 2016	Olympic games	Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
4 × 200 m freestyle	7: 41.50	Ariarne Titmus (1: 54.27) Madison Wilson (1: 56.73) Brianna Throssell (1: 55.60) Emma McKeon (1: 54.90)	Australia	July 25, 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea
4 × 100 m layers	3: 50.40	Regan Smith (57.57) Lilly King (1: 04.81) Kelsi Dahlia (56.16) Simone Manuel (51.86)	United States	28th July 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea	​

Mixed

discipline	time	swimmer	nation	date	meeting	place	Movie
4 × 100 m freestyle	3: 19.40	Caeleb Dressel (47.34) Zach Apple (47.34) Mallory Comerford (52.72) Simone Manuel (52.00)	United States	July 27, 2019	World championships	Gwangju , South Korea
4 × 100 m layers	3: 38.56	Matt Grevers (52.32) Lilly King (1: 04.15) Caeleb Dressel (49.92) Simone Manuel (52.17)	United States	July 26, 2017	World championships	Budapest , Hungary

World records short course (25 meters)

Men

discipline	time	swimmer	nation	date	meeting	place	Movie
50 m freestyle	20.24	Caeleb Dressel	United States	20th December 2019	International Swimming League	Las Vegas , United States	​
100 m freestyle	44.94	Amaury Leveaux	France	December 13, 2008	European short course championships	Rijeka , Croatia	​
200 m freestyle	1: 39.37	Paul Biedermann	Germany	November 15, 2009	Swimming World Cup	Berlin , Germany
400 m freestyle	3: 32.25	Yannick Agnel	France	November 15, 2012	French short course championships	Angers , France	​
800 m freestyle	7: 23.42	Grant Hackett	Australia	July 20, 2008	Victoria Short Course Championships	Melbourne , Australia
1500 m freestyle	14: 08.06	Gregorio Paltrinieri	Italy	4th December 2015	European short course championships	Netanya , Israel	​
50 m back	22.22	Florent Manaudou	France	December 6, 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
100 m back	48.88	Xu Jiayu	People's Republic of China	November 11, 2018	Swimming World Cup	Tokyo , Japan	​
200 m back	1: 45.63	Mitch Larkin	Australia	November 27, 2015	Australian Short Course Championships	Sydney , Australia	​
50 m chest	25.25	Cameron van der Burgh	South Africa	November 14, 2009	Swimming World Cup	Berlin , Germany
100 m chest	55.61	Cameron van der Burgh	South Africa	November 15, 2009	Swimming World Cup	Berlin , Germany
200 m chest	2: 00.16	Kirill Prigoda	Russia	December 13, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China	​
50 m butterfly	21.75	Nicholas Santos	Brazil	October 6, 2018	Swimming World Cup	Budapest , Hungary	​
100 m butterfly	48.08	Chad le Clos	South Africa	December 8, 2016	Short course world championships	Windsor , Canada	​
200 m butterfly	1: 48.24	Daiya Seto	Japan	December 11, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China	​
100 m layers	50.26	Vladimir Morozov	Russia	28th September 2018	Swimming World Cup	Eindhoven , Netherlands
				November 9, 2018	Swimming World Cup	Tokyo , Japan	​
200 m layers	1: 49.63	Ryan Lochte	United States	December 14, 2012	Short course world championships	Istanbul , Turkey	​
400 m layers	3: 54.81	Daiya Seto	Japan	20th December 2019	International Swimming League	Las Vegas , United States	​
4 × 50 m freestyle	1: 21.80	Caeleb Dressel (20.43) Ryan Held (20.25) Jack Conger (20.59) Michael Chadwick (20.53)	United States	December 14, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China
4 × 100 m freestyle	3: 03.03	Caeleb Dressel (45.66) Blake Pieroni (45.73) Michael Chadwick (45.86) Ryan Held (45.76)	United States	December 11, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China	​
4 × 200 m freestyle	6: 46.81	Luiz Altamir Melo (1: 42.03) Fernando Scheffer (1: 40.99) Leonardo Coelho Santos (1: 42.81) Breno Correira (1: 40.98)	Brazil	December 14, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China	​
4 × 50 m layers	1: 30.44	Kliment Kolesnikow (22.83) Kirill Prigoda (25.26) Aleksandr Popkow (22.11) Vladimir Morozov (20.24)	Russia	17th December 2017	European short course championships	Copenhagen , Denmark
4 × 100 m layers	3: 19.16	Stanislaw Donets (49.63) Sergei Geibel (56.43) Evgeni Korotyshkin (48.35) Danila Isotov (44.75)	Russia	December 20, 2009	Vladimir Salnikov Cup	St. Petersburg , Russia

Women

discipline	time	swimmer	nation	date	meeting	place	Movie
50 m freestyle	22.93	Ranomi Kromowidjojo	Netherlands	7th August 2017	Swimming World Cup	Berlin , Germany
100 m freestyle	50.25	Cate Campbell	Australia	October 26, 2017	Australian championships	Adelaide , Australia	​
200 m freestyle	1: 50.43	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	August 12, 2017	Swimming World Cup	Eindhoven , Netherlands	​
400 m freestyle	3: 53.92	Ariarne Titmus	Australia	December 14, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China	​
800 m freestyle	7: 59.34	Mireia Belmonte	Spain	August 10, 2013	Swimming World Cup	Berlin , Germany	​
1500 m freestyle	15: 18.01	Sarah Koehler	Germany	16th November 2019	German short course championships	Berlin , Germany
50 m back	25.67	Etiene Medeiros	Brazil	December 7, 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
100 m back	54.89	Minna Atherton	Australia	October 27, 2019	International Swimming League	Budapest , Hungary	​
200 m back	1: 59.23	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	5th December 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
50 m chest	28.56	Alia Atkinson	Jamaica	October 6, 2018	Swimming World Cup	Budapest , Hungary
100 m chest	1: 02.36	Rūta Meilutytė	Lithuania	October 12, 2013	Swimming World Cup	Moscow , Russia
		Alia Atkinson	Jamaica	December 6, 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
				26th August 2016	Swimming World Cup	Chartres , France
200 m chest	2: 14.57	Rebecca Soni	United States	December 18, 2009	Duel in the pool	Manchester , UK
50 m butterfly	24.38	Therese Alshammar	Sweden	November 22, 2009	Swimming World Cup	Singapore
100 m butterfly	54.61	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	December 7, 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
200 m butterfly	1: 59.61	Mireia Belmonte	Spain	3rd December 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
100 m layers	56.51	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	7th August 2017	Swimming World Cup	Berlin , Germany
200 m layers	2: 01.86	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	December 6, 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
400 m layers	4: 18.94	Mireia Belmonte	Spain	August 12, 2017	Swimming World Cup	Eindhoven , Netherlands	​
4 × 50 m freestyle	1: 33.91	Ranomi Kromowidjojo (23.42) Femke Heemskerk (23.19) Tamara van Vliet (23.65) Valerie van Roon (23.65)	Netherlands	15th December 2017	European short course championships	Copenhagen , Denmark
4 × 100 m freestyle	3: 26.53	Inge Dekker (52.39) Femke Heemskerk (50.58) Maud van der Meer (52.55) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (51.01)	Netherlands	5th December 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
4 × 200 m freestyle	7: 32.85	Inge Dekker (1: 54.73) Femke Heemskerk (1: 51.22) Ranomi Kromowidjojo (1: 54.17) Sharon van Rouwendaal (1: 52.73)	Netherlands	3rd December 2014	Short course world championships	Doha , Qatar	​
4 × 50 m layers	1: 42.38	Olivia Smoliga (25.97) Katie Meili (29.29) Kelsi Dahlia (24.02) Mallory Comerford (23.10)	United States	December 12, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China
4 × 100 m layers	3: 45.20	Courtney Bartholomew (56.08) Katie Meili (1: 02.88) Kelsi Dahlia (55.01) Simone Manuel (51.23)	United States	December 11, 2015	Duel in the pool	Indianapolis , United States

Mixed

discipline	time	swimmer	nation	date	meeting	place	Movie
4 × 50 m freestyle	1: 27.89	Caeleb Dressel (20.43) Ryan Held (20.66) Mallory Cromerford (23.44) Kelsi Dahlia (23.42)	United States	December 12, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China	​
4 × 50 m layers	1: 36.40	Olivia Smoliga (25.85) Michael Andrew (25.75) Kelsi Dahlia (24.71) Caeleb Dressel (20.09)	United States	December 13, 2018	Short course world championships	Hangzhou , China	​

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} For the records in this list for the 4 × 50 meter freestyle and 4 × 50 meter positional distances , FINA only recognized times swum as world records since September 25, 2013. The European Swimming Federation ( LEN ) recognized European records in advance for these distances, which is why they can be better than the world records.

statistics

Most successful nations

Overall world records	nation	Long track	Short course	total	Long track	Short course	total	Long track	Short course	total
		Men			Women			Mixed
28	United States	8th	4th	12	8th	4th	12	2	2	4th
7th	Sweden				4th	3	7th
7th	Hungary	1		1	2	4th	6th
6th	Russia	2	4th	6th
5	Australia		2	2	2	1	3
5	Brazil	2	2	4th		1	1
4th	People's Republic of China	2		2	2		2
4th	Netherlands					4th	4th
4th	South Africa		4th	4th
4th	Germany	2	1	3		1	1
3	France		3	3
3	Spain					3	3
2	United Kingdom	2		2
2	Italy		1	1	1		1
2	Jamaica					2	2
2	Japan		2	2
1	Lithuania					1	1
1	Denmark				1		1
1	Ukraine	1		1

Most successful athletes

Men

swimmer	nation	0WR0		Freestyle						chest			move			butterfly			Locations				Season					Mixed relay
				0050	0100	0200	0400	0800	1500	0050	0100	0200	0050	0100	0200	0050	0100	0200	0100	0200	0400		050F	100F	200F	050L	100L	050F	050L	100F	100L
Caeleb Dressel		8th	3														X													X	X		Long track
			5	X																			X			X		X	X				Short course
Michael Phelps		4th	4th																		X		X	X		X					Long track
			-																												Short course
Ryan Lochte		3	2																	X				X							Long track
			1																	X											Short course
Paul Biedermann		3	2			X	X																								Long track
			1			X																									Short course
César Cielo		3	2	X	X																										Long track
			1																						X						Short course
Aaron Peirsol		3	3											X	X											X					Long track
			-																												Short course

Women

swimmer	nation	0WR0		Freestyle						chest			move			butterfly			Locations				Season					Mixed relay
				0050	0100	0200	0400	0800	1500	0050	0100	0200	0050	0100	0200	0050	0100	0200	0100	0200	0400		050F	100F	200F	050L	100L	050F	050L	100F	100L
Katinka Hosszú		6th	2																	X	X												Long track
			4th											X	X				X	X													Short course
Sarah Sjöström		6th	4th	X	X											X	X														Long track
			2			X											X														Short course
Ranomi Kromowidjojo		4th	-																												Long track
			4th	X																		X	X	X							Short course
Mireia Belmonte		3	-																												Long track
			3					X										X			X										Short course
Femke Heemskerk		3	-																												Long track
			3																			X	X	X							Short course
Missy Franklin		3	3												X											X			X		Long track
			-																												Short course
Katie Ledecky		3	3				X	X	X																						Long track
			-																												Short course

Long-term records

Men

swimmer	nation	discipline	time	date	validity	Olympic / World Cup discipline
Tom Jager	United States	00050 m freestyle	00021.81 s	March 24, 1990	10 years and 84 days	X
George Hodgson	Canada	01500 m freestyle	022: 00.0 min	July 10, 1912	10 years and 363 days	X
Arne Borg	Sweden	01500 m freestyle	019:07.2 min	September 2, 1927	10 years and 342 days	X
Tomikatsu Amano	Japan	01500 m freestyle	018: 58.8 min	August 10, 1938	11 years and 6 days	X
Grant Hackett	Australia	01500 m freestyle	014: 34.56 min	July 29, 2001	10 years and 2 days	X
Grant Hackett	Australia	01500 m freestyle	014: 10.10 min	August 7, 2001	14 years and 119 days	X
Walter Bathe	German Empire	00100 m chest	001: 17.8 min	December 18, 1910	10 years and 157 days
Dick Hough	United States	00100 m chest	001: 07.3 min	April 15, 1939	10 years and 249 days
Michael Barrowman	United States	00200 m chest	002: 10.16 min	July 29, 1992	10 years and 65 days	X
Adolph Kiefer	United States	00100 m back	001: 04.8 min	January 18, 1936	12 years and 157 days	X
Otto Fahr	German Empire	00200 m back	002: 48.4 min	April 3, 1912	14 years and 82 days
Masanori Yusa , Shigeo Sugiura , Masaharu Taguchi , Shigeo Arai	Japan	4 × 200 m freestyle	008: 51.5 min	August 11, 1936	11 years and 358 days	X

Women

Female swimmer	nation	discipline	time	date	validity	Olympic / World Cup discipline
Willy den Ouden	Netherlands	00100 m freestyle	001: 04.6 min	February 27, 1936	19 years and 359 days	X
Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	00200 m freestyle	002: 21.7 min	September 11, 1938	17 years and 108 days
Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	00400 m freestyle	005:00, 1 min	September 15, 1940	15 years and 345 days	X
Janet Evans	United States	00400 m freestyle	004: 03.85 min	September 22, 1988	17 years and 232 days	X
Janet Evans	United States	00800 m freestyle	008: 16.22 min	August 20, 1989	18 years and 362 days	X
Janet Evans	United States	01500 m freestyle	015: 52.10 min	March 26, 1988	19 years and 83 days
Petra Schneider	GDR	01500 m freestyle	015: 43.31 min	January 12, 1982	22 years and 313 days
Cor Kint	Netherlands	00100 m back	001: 10.9 min	September 22, 1939	17 years and 74 days	X
Krisztina Egerszegi	Hungary	00200 m back	002: 06.62 min	August 25, 1991	16 years and 175 days	X
Mary T. Meagher	United States	00100 m butterfly	00057.93 s	August 16, 1981	18 years and 7 days	X
Mary T. Meagher	United States	00200 m butterfly	002: 05.96 min	August 13, 1981	18 years and 278 days	X
Manuela Stellmach , Astrid Strauss , Anke Möhring , Heike Friedrich	GDR	4 × 200 m freestyle	007: 55.47 min	August 18, 1987	17 years and 0 days	X

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} During the entire record period (the disciplines that are not part of the program of the intercontinental championships are rarely completed in the competitions sanctioned by the world association FINA - a basic requirement for record recognition.)

 official long-track world record (after May 1, 1957)

 official short course world record (after May 1, 1957)

World record probably situated on short course (before May 1, 1957)
It was only on the under the 1956 Summer Olympics performed FINA -Congress has been determined that records found starting on May 1, 1957 exclusively on the long course (50 meters or 55 yards) official recognition (or a distinction is made between long-course and short-course world records). Until then, the majority of the best marks came from the 25-meter pool, as the frequent turning results in time advantages.

Oddities

• The Swede Arne Borg completed his 1500 meter world record on September 2, 1927, the first 800 meters in 10:09 minutes, which was 28 seconds below the world record he had held over this distance. With this time, which was not officially undercut until 1933, Borg would have placed fourth in the Olympic 4 × 200 meter relay competition in Paris three years earlier.
• Jessica Hardy was able to set two world records in one run: On August 7, 2009, she swam the 100 m chest on the long track in a world record time of 1: 04.45 min. It only took 29.80 s for the first run. This enabled her to beat her own 50 m world record from the previous day by 0.15 seconds.

Gallery of record holders (selection)

• 

  Nathan Adrian

• 

  Yannick Agnel

• 

  Mireia Belmonte

• 

  Paul Biedermann

• 

  Cameron van der Burgh

• 

  César Cielo

• 

  Chad le Clos

• 

  Missy Franklin

• 

  Matt Grevers

• 

  Grant Hackett

• 

  Femke Heemskerk

• 

  Katinka Hosszú

• 

  Ranomi Kromowidjojo

• 

  Katie Ledecky

• 

  Amaury Leveaux

• 

  Jason Lezak

• 

  Ryan Lochte

• 

  Rūta Meilutytė

• 

  Rikke Møller Pedersen

• 

  Aaron Peirsol

• 

  Federica Pellegrini

• 

  Michael Phelps

• 

  Sarah Sjöström

• 

  Rebecca Soni

See also

• List of European swimming records
• List of Olympic swimming records
• List of German swimming records
• List of Austrian swimming records

Web links

• Official List of World Swimming Records (FINA)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Volker Kluge : Olympic Summer Games. The Chronicle II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 , p. 462 ff.
2. ↑ The Chronicle of Sport. Chronik-Verlag Dortmund 1990, 2nd, supplemented and updated edition 1992, ISBN 3-611-00270-4 , p. 334