List of swimming world records over 400 meters freestyle

The swimming world records over 400 m freestyle are the best times swum in the 400 m freestyle swimming discipline. They are recognized by the international swimming federation FINA . World records are held separately for long courses (50 m) and short courses (25 m) and separately 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 400 m freestyle (50 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Henry Taylor	United Kingdom	05: 36.8	July 16, 1908	London
2	Thomas Battersby	United Kingdom	05: 35.8	September 21, 1911	London
3	Alajos Kenyery	Hungary	05: 29.0	April 21, 1912	Magdeburg
4th	Béla of Las Torres	Hungary	05: 28.4	June 5, 1912	Budapest
5	George Hodgson	Canada	05: 24.4	July 14, 1912	Stockholm
6th	Jack Hatfield	United Kingdom	05: 21.6	September 26, 1912	London
7th	Norman Ross	United States	05: 14.6	October 9, 1919	los Angeles
8th	Norman Ross	United States	05: 14.4	September 25, 1921	Brighton Beach
9	Arne Borg	Sweden	05: 11.8	April 9, 1922	Stockholm
10	Johnny Weissmüller	United States	05: 06.6	June 22, 1922	Honolulu
11	Johnny Weissmüller	United States	04: 57.0	March 6, 1923	New Haven
12	Arne Borg	Sweden	04: 54.7	December 9, 1924	Stockholm
13	Arne Borg	Sweden	04: 50.3	September 11, 1925	Stockholm
14th	Jean Taris	France	04: 47.0	April 16, 1931	Paris
15th	Makino Shozo	Japan	04: 46.4	August 14, 1933	Tokyo
16	Jack Medica	United States	04: 38.7	August 30, 1934	Honolulu
17th	William Smith	United States	04: 38.5	May 13, 1941	Honolulu
18th	Alex Jany	France	04: 35.2	September 12, 1947	Monte Carlo
19th	Hironoshin Furuhashi	Japan	04: 34.6	July 24, 1949	Tokyo
20th	Hironoshin Furuhashi	Japan	04: 33.3	August 18, 1949	los Angeles
21st	John Marshall	Australia	04: 33.1	March 11, 1950	New Haven
22nd	John Marshall	Australia	04: 29.5	April 1, 1950	New Haven
23	John Marshall	Australia	04: 26.9	March 24, 1951	New Haven
24	Ford Konno	United States	04: 26.7	April 3, 1954	New Haven
Rule change
25th	Murray Rose	Australia	04: 27.0	October 27, 1956	Melbourne
26th	Murray Rose	Australia	04: 25.9	January 12, 1957	Sydney
27	John Konrads	Australia	04: 25.9	January 15, 1958	Sydney
28	John Konrads	Australia	04: 21.8	January 12, 1959	Melbourne
29	John Konrads	Australia	04: 19.0	February 7, 1959	Sydney
30th	Tsuyoshi Yamanaka	Japan	04: 16.6	July 26, 1959	Osaka
31	John Konrads	Australia	04: 15.9	February 23, 1960	Sydney
32	Murray Rose	Australia	04: 13.4	17th August 1962	Chicago
33	Don Schollander	United States	04: 12.7	July 31, 1964	Los Altos
34	Don Schollander	United States	04: 12.2	October 15, 1964	Tokyo
35	John Nelson	United States	04: 11.8	18th August 1966	Lincoln
36	Don Schollander	United States	04: 11.6	18th August 1966	Lincoln
37	Frank Wiegand	GDR	04: 11.1	August 25, 1966	Utrecht
38	Mark Spitz	United States	04: 10.6	June 25, 1967	Haywood
39	Alain Mosconi	France	04: 09.2	4th July 1967	Monaco
40	Mark Spitz	United States	04: 08.8	July 7, 1967	Santa Clara
41	Greg Charlton	United States	04: 08.2	August 28, 1967	Tokyo
42	Mark Spitz	United States	04: 08.1	1968	Santa Clara
43	Mark Spitz	United States	04: 07.7	June 23, 1968	Haywood
44	Ralph Hutton	Canada	04: 06.5	1st August 1968	Lincoln
45	Hans Fassnacht	BR Germany	04: 04.0	August 14, 1969	Louisville
46	John Kinsella	United States	04: 02.8	20th August 1970	los Angeles
47	Gunnar Larsson	Sweden	04: 02.6	7th September 1970	Barcelona
48	Tom McBreen	United States	04: 02.1	August 25, 1971	Houston
49	Brad Cooper	Australia	04: 01.7	February 12, 1972	Brisbane
50	Kurt Krumpholz	United States	04: 00.11	4th August 1972	Chicago
51	Rick DeMont	United States	03: 58.18	September 9, 1973	Belgrade
52	Tim Shaw	United States	03: 56.69	22nd August 1974	Concord
53	Tim Shaw	United States	03: 54.69	22nd August 1974	Concord
54	Tim Shaw	United States	03: 53.95	June 19, 1975	Long Beach
55	Tim Shaw	United States	03: 53.31	20th August 1975	Kansas City
56	Brian Goodell	United States	03: 53.08	June 18, 1976	Long Beach
57	Brian Goodell	United States	03: 51.93	July 22, 1976	Montreal
58	Brian Goodell	United States	03: 51.56	August 27, 1978	West Berlin
59	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	03: 51.41	April 6, 1979	Potsdam
60	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	03: 51.40	19th August 1979	Moscow
61	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	03: 51.20	February 29, 1980	Potsdam
62	Peter Szmidt	Canada	03: 50.49	July 15, 1980	Etobicoke
63	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	03: 49.57	March 12, 1982	Moscow
64	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	03: 48.32	February 19, 1983	Moscow
65	Michael Gross	BR Germany	03: 47.80	June 27, 1985	Wuppertal
66	Artur Wojdat	Poland	03: 47.38	March 25, 1988	Orlando
67	Uwe Dassler	GDR	03: 46.95	September 23, 1988	Seoul
68	Kieren Perkins	Australia	03: 46.47	April 3, 1992	Canberra
69	Yevgeny Sadowy	United team	03: 45.00	July 29, 1992	Barcelona
70	Kieren Perkins	Australia	03: 43.80	September 11, 1994	Rome
71	Ian Thorpe	Australia	03: 41.83	August 22, 1999	Sydney
72	Ian Thorpe	Australia	03: 41.33	May 13, 2000	Sydney
73	Ian Thorpe	Australia	03: 40.59	September 16, 2000	Sydney
74	Ian Thorpe	Australia	03: 40.17	July 22, 2001	Fukuoka
75	Ian Thorpe	Australia	03: 40.08	July 30, 2002	Manchester
76	Paul Biedermann	Germany	03: 40.07	July 26, 2009	Rome

Long track world records women

World records for women over 400 m freestyle (50 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Ethelda Bleibtrey	United States	06: 30.2	August 16, 1919	new York
2	Hilda James	United Kingdom	06: 16.6	July 29, 1921	Leeds
3	Gertrude Ederle	United States	05: 53.2	4th August 1922	Indianapolis
4th	Martha Norelius	United States	05: 51.4	January 23, 1927	Coral Gables
5	Martha Norelius	United States	05: 49.6	June 30, 1928	new York
6th	Martha Norelius	United States	05: 42.8	August 6, 1928	Amsterdam
7th	Martha Norelius	United States	05: 39.2	August 27, 1928	Vienna
8th	Helene Madison	United States	05: 31.0	February 3, 1931	Seattle
9	Helene Madison	United States	05: 28.5	August 13, 1932	los Angeles
10	Willy den Ouden	Netherlands	05: 16.0	July 12, 1934	Rotterdam
11	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	05: 14.2	February 10, 1937	Copenhagen
12	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	05: 14.0	October 3, 1937	Ghent
13	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	05: 12.4	November 14, 1937	Magdeburg
14th	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	05: 11.0	December 12, 1937	Copenhagen
15th	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	05: 08.2	January 16, 1938	Copenhagen
16	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	05: 06.1	August 1, 1938	Copenhagen
17th	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	05: 05.4	September 8, 1940	Svendborg
18th	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	05: 00.1	September 15, 1940	Copenhagen
19th	Lorraine Crapp	Australia	04: 50.8	August 25, 1956	Townsville
20th	Lorraine Crapp	Australia	04: 47.2	October 20, 1956	Sydney
Rule change
21st	Ilsa Konrads	Australia	04: 45.4	January 9, 1960	Sydney
22nd	Chris from Saltza	United States	04: 44.5	5th August 1960	Detroit
23	Marilyn Ramenofsky	United States	04: 42.0	July 11, 1964	Los Altos
24	Marilyn Ramenofsky	United States	04: 41.7	August 1, 1964	Los Altos
25th	Marilyn Ramenofsky	United States	04: 39.5	August 31, 1964	new York
26th	Martha Randall	United States	04: 39.2	August 14, 1965	Maumee
27	Martha Randall	United States	04: 38.0	August 26, 1965	Monte Carlo
28	Pamela Kruse	United States	04: 36.8	June 30, 1967	Fort Lauderdale
29	Pamela Kruse	United States	04: 36.4	July 7, 1967	Santa Clara
30th	Debbie Meyer	United States	04: 32.6	July 27, 1967	Winnipeg
31	Debbie Meyer	United States	04: 29.0	18th August 1967	Philadelphia
32	Debbie Meyer	United States	04: 26.7	1st August 1968	Lincoln
33	Debbie Meyer	United States	04: 24.5	August 25, 1968	los Angeles
34	Debbie Meyer	United States	04: 24.3	20th August 1970	los Angeles
35	Karen Moras	Australia	04: 22.6	April 30, 1971	London
36	Shane Gould	Australia	04: 21.2	July 9, 1971	Santa Clara
37	Shane Gould	Australia	04: 19.04	August 30, 1972	Munich
38	Keena Rothhammer	United States	04: 18.07	22nd August 1973	Louisville
39	Heather Greenwood	United States	04: 17.33	June 28, 1974	Santa Clara
40	Shirley Babashoff	United States	04: 15.77	22nd August 1974	Concord
41	Shirley Babashoff	United States	04: 14.76	June 20, 1975	Long Beach
42	Barbara Krause	GDR	04: 11.69	3rd June 1976	Berlin
43	Petra Thümer	GDR	04: 09.89	July 20, 1976	Montreal
44	Petra Thümer	GDR	04: 08.91	17th August 1977	Jonkoping
45	Kim Linehan	United States	04: 07.66	2nd August 1978	The Woodlands
46	Tracey Wickham	Australia	04: 06.28	August 24, 1978	West Berlin
47	Janet Evans	United States	04: 05.45	December 20, 1987	Orlando
48	Janet Evans	United States	04: 03.85	September 22, 1988	Seoul
49	Laure Manaudou	France	04: 03.03	May 12, 2006	Tours
50	Laure Manaudou	France	04: 02.13	August 6, 2006	Budapest
51	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	04: 01.53	March 24, 2008	Eindhoven
52	Joanne Jackson	United Kingdom	04: 00.66	March 16, 2009	Sheffield
53	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	04: 00.41	June 27, 2009	Pescara
54	Federica Pellegrini	Italy	03: 59.15	July 26, 2009	Rome
55	Katie Ledecky	United States	03: 58.86	August 9, 2014	Irvine
56	Katie Ledecky	United States	03: 58.37	23rd August 2014	Gold coast
57	Katie Ledecky	United States	03: 56.46	7th August 2016	Rio de Janeiro

Short course world records men

World records for men over 400 m freestyle (25 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Danyon Loader	New Zealand	03: 40.46	February 11, 1995	Vienna
2	Ian Thorpe	Australia	03: 39.32	September 25, 1998	Perth
3	Grant Hackett	Australia	03: 35.01	April 2, 1999	Hong Kong
4th	Grant Hackett	Australia	03: 34.58	July 18, 2002	Sydney
5	Paul Biedermann	Germany	03: 32.77	November 14, 2009	Berlin
6th	Yannick Agnel	France	03: 32.25	November 15, 2012	Angers

(This list is not yet complete)

Short course world records women

World records for women in the 400 m freestyle (25 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Claudia Poll	Costa Rica	04: 00.03	April 18, 1997	Gothenburg
2	Lindsey Benko	United States	03: 59.53	January 26, 2003	Berlin
3	Laure Manaudou	France	03: 56.79	December 10, 2005	Trieste
4th	Laure Manaudou	France	03: 56.09	December 9, 2006	Helsinki
5	Joanne Jackson	Society. King	03: 54.92	August 8, 2009	Leeds
4th	Camille Muffat	France	03: 54.85	November 24, 2012	Chartres
5	Mireia Belmonte	Spain	03: 54.52	August 11, 2013	Berlin
6th	Ariarne Titmus	Australia	03: 53.92	December 14, 2018	Hangzhou

(This list is not yet complete)

See also

• List of swimming world records
• List of European swimming records
• List of German swimming records
• List of European swimming records over 400 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. Previously dated (long-course) top marks - primarily achieved in Melbourne's Olympic basin - were subsequently recognized as the first official 50-m-course world record if they were no longer undercut on the short course by the specified date.