List of swimming world records over 200 meters freestyle

The swimming world records over 200 m freestyle are the best times swum in the 200 m freestyle swimming discipline, which are recognized by the international swimming federation FINA . They are run separately for long courses (50 m) and short courses (25 m) as well as for men and women. In the following, the world record development since the first recognized world record is listed.

Long track world records men

World records for men in the 200 m freestyle (50 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Otto Scheff	Austria-Hungary	2: 31.6	November 11, 1908	Vienna
2	Frank Beaurepaire	Australia	2: 30.0	September 9, 1910	Exeter
3	Charles Daniels	United States	2: 25.4	March 28, 1911	Pittsburgh
4th	Norman Ross	United States	2: 21.6	November 24, 1916	San Francisco
5	Tedford Cann	United States	2: 19.8	April 10, 1920	Detroit
6th	Johnny Weissmuller	United States	2: 15.6	May 26, 1922	Honolulu
7th	Johnny Weissmuller	United States	2: 15.2	December 9, 1925	McKeesport
8th	Johnny Weissmuller	United States	2: 08.0	April 5, 1927	Ann Arbor
9	Jack Medica	United States	2: 07.2	April 12, 1935	Chicago
10	William Smith	United States	2: 06.2	February 12, 1944	Columbus
11	Alex Jany	France	2: 05.4	September 20, 1946	Marseille
12	John Marshall	Australia	2: 04.6	March 31, 1950	New Haven
13	Ford Konno	United States	2: 03.9	February 27, 1954	Columbus
14th	John Wardrop	Society. King	2: 03.4	March 4th 1955	Columbus
15th	Dick Hanley	United States	2: 01.5	March 8, 1957	Minneapolis
Rule change
16	John Konrads	Australia	2: 04.8	January 18, 1958	Sydney
17th	John Konrads	Australia	2: 03.2	May 5th 1958	Sydney
18th	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka	Japan	2: 03.0	August 22, 1958	Osaka
19th	John Konrads	Australia	2: 02.2	January 16, 1959	Sydney
20th	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka	Japan	2: 01.5	July 26, 1959	Osaka
21st	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka	Japan	2: 01.2	June 24, 1961	Osaka
22nd	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka	Japan	2: 01.1	August 6, 1961	Tokyo
23	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka	Japan	2: 00.4	August 20, 1961	los Angeles
24	Robert Windle	Australia	2: 00.3	April 21, 1963	Tokyo
25th	Don Schollander	United States	1: 58.8	July 27, 1963	los Angeles
26th	Don Schollander	United States	1: 58.5	17th August 1963	Tokyo
27	Don Schollander	United States	1: 58.4	August 24, 1963	Osaka
28	Hans-Joachim Klein	BR Germany	1: 58.2	May 24, 1964	Dortmund
29	Don Schollander	United States	1: 57.6	August 1, 1964	Los Altos
30th	Don Schollander	United States	1: 57.2	July 29, 1966	los Angeles
31	Don Schollander	United States	1: 56.2	19th August 1966	Lincoln
32	Don Schollander	United States	1: 56.0	July 29, 1967	Winnipeg
33	Don Schollander	United States	1: 55.7	August 12, 1967	Oak Park
34	Don Schollander	United States	1: 54.3	August 30, 1968	Long Beach
35	Mark Spitz	United States		1969	Santa Clara
36	Mark Spitz	United States	1: 54.2	4th September 1971	Leipzig
37	Mark Spitz	United States	1: 53.5	September 10, 1971	Minsk
38	Mark Spitz	United States	1: 52.78	August 29, 1972	Munich
39	Tim Shaw	United States	1: 51.66	23rd August 1974	Concord
40	Bruce Furniss	United States	1: 51.41	June 18, 1975	Long Beach
41	Bruce Furniss	United States	1: 50.89	June 18, 1975	Long Beach
42	Bruce Furniss	United States	1: 50.32	August 21, 1975	Kansas City
43	Bruce Furniss	United States	1: 50.29	July 19, 1978	Montreal
44	Sergei Koplyakov	Soviet Union	1: 49.83	April 7, 1979	Potsdam
45	Rowdy Gaines	United States	1: 49.16	April 11, 1980	Austin
46	Rowdy Gaines	United States	1: 48.93	July 19, 1982	Mission Viejo
47	Michael Gross	BR Germany	1: 48.28	June 21, 1983	Hanover
48	Michael Gross	BR Germany	1: 47.87	22nd August 1983	Rome
49	Michael Gross	BR Germany	1: 47.55	June 8, 1984	Munich
50	Michael Gross	BR Germany	1: 47.44	July 29, 1984	los Angeles
51	Duncan Armstrong	Australia	1: 47.25	September 19, 1988	Seoul
52	Giorgio Lamberti	Italy	1: 46.69	August 15, 1989	Bonn
53	Grant Hackett	Australia	1: 46.67	March 23, 1999	Brisbane
54	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 46.34	August 23, 1999	Sydney
55	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 46.00	August 24, 1999	Sydney
56	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 45.69	May 14, 2000	Sydney
57	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 45.51	May 15, 2000	Sydney
58	Pieter vd Hoogenband	Netherlands	1: 45.35	September 17, 2000	Sydney
59	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 44.69	March 27, 2001	Hobart
60	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 44.06	July 25, 2001	Fukuoka
61	Michael Phelps	United States	1: 43.86	March 27, 2007	Melbourne
62	Michael Phelps	United States	1: 42.96	August 12, 2008	Beijing
63	Paul Biedermann	Germany	1: 42.00	July 28, 2009	Rome

Long track world records women

World records for women in the 200 m freestyle (50 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Fanny Durack	Australia	2: 56.0	March 4, 1915	Manly
2	Charlotte Boyle	United States	2: 47.6	August 25, 1921	New Brighton
3	Gertrude Ederle	United States	2: 45.2	April 4, 1923	Brooklyn
4th	Martha Norelius	United States	2: 40.6	February 28, 1926	Miami
5	Helene Madison	United States	2: 34.6	March 6, 1930	St. Augustine
6th	Willy den Ouden	Netherlands	2: 28.6	May 3, 1933	Rotterdam
7th	Willy den Ouden	Netherlands	2: 27.6	May 5, 1934	Dundee
8th	Willy den Ouden	Netherlands	2: 25.3	September 8, 1935	Copenhagen
9	Rie van Veen	Netherlands	2: 24.6	February 26, 1938	Rotterdam
10	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	2: 21.7	September 11, 1938	Aarhus
11	Dawn Fraser	Australia	2: 20.7	February 25, 1956	Sydney
12	Lorraine Crapp	Australia	2: 19.3	August 25, 1956	Townsville
13	Lorraine Crapp	Australia	2: 18.5	October 20, 1956	Sydney
Rule change
14th	Dawn Fraser	Australia	2: 17.7	February 10, 1958	Adelaide
15th	Dawn Fraser	Australia	2: 14.7	February 22, 1958	Melbourne
16	Dawn Fraser	Australia	2: 11.6	February 27, 1960	Sydney
17th	Pokey Watson	United States	2: 10.5	19th August 1966	Lincoln
18th	Pamela Kruse	United States	2: 09.7	19th August 1967	Philadelphia
19th	Susan Pedersen	United States	2: 09.5	July 6, 1968	Santa Clara
20th	Edith Wetzel	United States	2: 08.8	2nd August 1968	Lincoln
21st	Debbie Meyer	United States	2: 06.7	August 24, 1968	los Angeles
22nd	Shane Gould	Australia	2: 06.5	May 1, 1971	London
23	Shane Gould	Australia	2: 05.8	November 26, 1971	Sydney
24	Shirley Babashoff	United States	2: 05.21	4th August 1972	Chicago
25th	Shane Gould	Australia	2: 03.56	1st September 1972	Munich
26th	Kornelia Ender	GDR	2: 03.22	22nd August 1974	Vienna
27	Shirley Babashoff	United States	2: 02.94	23rd August 1974	Concord
28	Kornelia Ender	GDR	2: 02.27	March 15, 1975	Dresden
29	Kornelia Ender	GDR	1: 59.78	June 2nd 1976	Berlin
30th	Kornelia Ender	GDR	1: 59.26	July 22, 1976	Montreal
31	Barbara Krause	GDR	1: 59.04	2nd July 1978	Berlin
32	Cynthia Woodhead	United States	1: 58.53	August 22, 1978	West Berlin
33	Cynthia Woodhead	United States	1: 58.43	3rd July 1979	San Juan
34	Cynthia Woodhead	United States	1: 58.23	3rd September 1979	Tokyo
35	Kristin Otto	GDR	1: 57.75	May 23, 1984	Magdeburg
36	Heike Friedrich	GDR	1: 57.55	June 18, 1986	Berlin
37	Franziska van Almsick	Germany	1: 56.78	September 6, 1994	Rome
38	Franziska van Almsick	Germany	1: 56.64	August 3, 2002	Berlin
39	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	1: 56.47	March 27, 2007	Melbourne
40	Laure Manaudou	France	1: 55.52	March 28, 2007	Melbourne
41	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	1: 55.45	August 11, 2008	Beijing
42	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	1: 54.82	August 13, 2008	Beijing
43	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	1: 54.47	March 8, 2009	Riccione
44	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	1: 53.67	July 28, 2009	Rome
45	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	1: 52.98	July 29, 2009	Rome

Short course world records men

World records for men in the 200 m freestyle (25 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Giorgio Lamberti	Italy	1: 43.64	February 11, 1990	Bonn
2	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 43.28	April 1, 1999	Hong Kong
3	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 42.54	January 18, 2000	Sydney
4th	Ian Thorpe	Australia	1: 41.10	February 6, 2000	Berlin
5	Paul Biedermann	Germany	1: 40.83	November 16, 2008	Berlin
6th	Paul Biedermann	Germany	1: 39.37	November 15, 2009	Berlin

(This list is not yet complete)

Short course world records women

World records for women in the 200 m freestyle (25 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Franziska van Almsick	Germany	1: 55.84	January 9, 1993	Beijing
2	Claudia Poll	Costa Rica	1: 55.42	December 1, 1995	Rio de Janeiro
3	Claudia Poll	Costa Rica	1: 54.17	April 18, 1997	Gothenburg
4th	Lindsay Benko	United States	1: 54.04	April 7, 2002	Moscow
5	Lisbeth Lenton	Australia	1: 53.29	November 19, 2005	Sydney
6th	Coralie Balmy	France	1: 53.18	December 6, 2008	Angers
7th	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	1: 51.85	December 14, 2008	Rijeka
8th	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	1: 51.17	December 13, 2009	Istanbul
9	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	1: 50.78	December 7, 2014	Doha
10	Sarah Sjöström	Sweden	1: 50.43	August 12, 2017	Eindhoven

(This list is not yet complete)

See also

• List of swimming world records
• List of European swimming records
• List of European swimming records over 200 meters freestyle
• Freestyle swimming

Web links

• Historical development of the swimming world records, www.olympic.org (English)
• Historical development of the swimming world records, www.agendadiana.it (Italian)
• Historical development of the swimming world records, www.zwemkroniek.com (Dutch)

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. Die Chronik II. London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 , p. 462 ff .: Due to the time advantages when turning, the majority of the previous records came from competitions in a 25-meter Pool. On the one under 1956 Olympics conducted FINA -Congress was finally determined that records from May 1, 1957 found only on the long course (50 meters or 55 yards) official recognition.