List of swimming world records over 400 meters

The swimming world records over 400 meters are the best times swum in the swimming discipline of 400 meters. 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 over 400 m medley (50 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Frank O'Neill	Australia	05: 48.5	17th January 1953	Sydney
2	Frank O'Neill	Australia	05: 43.0	February 24, 1953	Sydney
3	Gusztáv Kettesy	Hungary	05: 38.7	April 24, 1953	Budapest
4th	Maurice Lusien	France	05: 35.6	April 24, 1953	Troyes
5	Gusztáv Kettesy	Hungary	05: 32.1	July 26, 1953	Budapest
6th	Jan Andsberg	Sweden	05: 31.0	October 29, 1953	Lund
7th	Maurice Lusien	France	05: 27.3	March 18, 1954	Reims
8th	Alfred Spengler	GDR	05: 18.3	April 22, 1954	Dresden
9	Vladimir Struschanov	Soviet Union	05: 15.4	October 2, 1954	Minsk
10	Gennady Androsov	Soviet Union	05: 09.4	March 10, 1957	Lviv
11	Vladimir Struschanov	Soviet Union	05: 08.3	March 17, 1957	Moscow
Rule change
12	Gary Heinrich	United States	05: 15.6	August 27, 1957	Philadelphia
13	Vladimir Struschanov	Soviet Union	05: 12.9	October 20, 1957	Moscow
14th	Ian Black	Society. King	05: 08.8	June 6, 1959	Cardiff
15th	George Harrison	United States	05: 07.8	June 24, 1960	los Angeles
16	George Harrison	United States	05: 05.3	June 24, 1960	los Angeles
17th	Dennis Rounsaville	United States	05: 04.5	July 22, 1960	Toledo
18th	Ted Stickles	United States	05: 04.3	July 1, 1961	Chicago
19th	Ted Stickles	United States	04: 55.6	August 18, 1961	los Angeles
20th	Gerhard Hetz	BR Germany	04: 53.8	May 24, 1962	Moscow
21st	Ted Stickles	United States	04: 51.4	June 30, 1962	Chicago
22nd	Ted Stickles	United States	04: 51.0	July 12, 1962	Louisville
23	Gerhard Hetz	BR Germany	04: 50.2	October 12, 1963	Tokyo
24	Richard Roth	United States	04: 48.6	July 31, 1964	Los Altos
25th	Richard Roth	United States	04: 45.4	October 14, 1964	Tokyo
26th	Andrei Dunaev	Soviet Union	04: 45.3	3rd April 1968	Tallinn
27	Greg Buckingham	United States	04: 45.1	July 6, 1968	Santa Clara
28	Gary Hall Sr.	United States	04: 43.4	20th July 1968	los Angeles
29	Charles Hickcox	United States	04: 43.3	August 30, 1968	Long Beach
30th	Charles Hickcox	United States	04: 39.0	August 30, 1968	Long Beach
31	Gary Hall Sr.	United States	04: 38.7	July 11, 1969	Santa Clara
32	Gary Hall Sr.	United States	04: 33.9	15th August 1969	Louisville
33	Gary Hall Sr.	United States	04: 31.0	August 21, 1970	los Angeles
34	Gary Hall Sr.	United States	04: 30.81	3rd August 1972	Chicago
35	András Hargitay	Hungary	04: 28.89	20th August 1974	Vienna
36	Zoltán Verrasztó	Hungary	04: 26.00	April 2, 1976	Long Beach
37	Rod Strachan	United States	04: 23.68	July 25, 1976	Montreal
38	Jesse Vassallo	United States	04: 23.39	4th August 1978	The Woodlands
39	Jesse Vassallo	United States	04: 20.05	August 22, 1978	West Berlin
40	Ricardo Prado	Brazil	04: 19.78	2nd August 1982	Guayaquil
41	Jens-Peter Berndt	GDR	04: 19.61	May 23, 1984	Magdeburg
42	Alexander Baumann	Canada	04: 17.53	17th June 1984	Etobicoke
43	Alexander Baumann	Canada	04: 17.41	July 30, 1984	los Angeles
44	Dave Wharton	United States	04: 16.12	August 14, 1987	Brisbane
45	Tamás Darnyi	Hungary	04: 15.42	August 19, 1987	Strasbourg
46	Tamás Darnyi	Hungary	04: 14.75	September 21, 1988	Seoul
47	Tamás Darnyi	Hungary	04: 12.36	January 8, 1991	Perth
48	Tom Dolan	United States	04: 12.30	September 6, 1994	Rome
49	Tom Dolan	United States	04: 11.76	September 17, 2000	Sydney
50	Michael Phelps	United States	04: 11.09	August 15, 2002	Fort Lauderdale
51	Michael Phelps	United States	04: 10.73	April 6, 2003	Indianapolis
52	Michael Phelps	United States	04: 09.09	July 27, 2003	Barcelona
53	Michael Phelps	United States	04: 08.41	July 7, 2004	Long Beach
54	Michael Phelps	United States	04: 08.26	August 14, 2004	Athens
55	Michael Phelps	United States	04: 06.22	April 1, 2007	Melbourne
56	Michael Phelps	United States	04: 05.25	June 29, 2008	Omaha
57	Michael Phelps	United States	04: 03.84	August 10, 2008	Beijing

Long track world records women

World records for women over 400 m individual medley (50 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Éva Székely	Hungary	05: 50.4	April 10, 1953	Budapest
2	Mary Kok	Netherlands	05: 47.3	March 28, 1955	Hilversum
3	Éva Székely	Hungary	05: 40.8	July 13, 1955	Budapest
4th	Mary Kok	Netherlands	05: 38.9	02nd December 1956	Hilversum
Rule change
5	Sylvia Ruuska	United States	05: 46.6	June 27, 1958	los Angeles
6th	Sylvia Ruuska	United States	05: 43.7	0August 1, 1958	Topeka
7th	Sylvia Ruuska	United States	05: 41.1	February 24, 1959	Melbourne
8th	Sylvia Ruuska	United States	05: 40.2	17th July 1959	Redding
9	Donna de Varona	United States	05: 36.5	July 15, 1960	Indianapolis
10	Donna de Varona	United States	05: 34.5	August 11, 1961	Philadelphia
11	Donna de Varona	United States	05: 29.7	0June 2, 1962	Los Altos
12	Sharon Finneran	United States	05: 27.4	July 26, 1962	Osaka
13	Donna de Varona	United States	05: 24.7	July 26, 1962	Osaka
14th	Sharon Finneran	United States	05: 21.9	July 28, 1962	Osaka
15th	Donna de Varona	United States	05: 16.5	March 10, 1964	Lima
16	Donna de Varona	United States	05: 14.9	August 30, 1964	new York
17th	Claudia Kolb	United States	05: 11.7	0July 9, 1967	Santa Clara
18th	Claudia Kolb	United States	05: 09.7	0August 1, 1967	Winnipeg
19th	Claudia Kolb	United States	05: 08.2	19th August 1967	Philadelphia
20th	Claudia Kolb	United States	05: 04.7	August 24, 1968	los Angeles
21st	Gail Neall	Australia	05: 02.97	August 31, 1972	Munich
22nd	Angela Franke	GDR	05: 01.10	18th August 1973	Utrecht
23	Gudrun Wegner	GDR	04: 57.51	0September 6, 1973	Belgrade
24	Ulrike Tauber	GDR	04: 52.42	August 21, 1974	Vienna
25th	Ulrike Tauber	GDR	04: 52.20	0June 7th 1975	Piesteritz
26th	Birgit driver	GDR	04: 48.79	0June 1, 1976	East Berlin
27	Ulrike Tauber	GDR	4: 42.77	July 24, 1976	Montreal
28	Tracy Caulkins	United States	4: 40.83	23rd August 1978	West Berlin
29	Petra Schneider	GDR	04: 39.96	March 30, 1980	Leningrad
30th	Petra Schneider	GDR	04: 38.44	May 27, 1980	Magdeburg
31	Petra Schneider	GDR	04: 36.29	July 26, 1980	Moscow
32	Petra Schneider	GDR	04: 36.10	0August 1, 1982	Guayaquil
33	Chen Yan	People's Republic of China	04: 34.79	October 13, 1997	Shanghai
34	Jana Klotschkowa	Ukraine	04: 33.59	September 16, 2000	Sydney
35	Katie Hoff	United States	04: 32.89	0April 1, 2007	Melbourne
36	Stephanie Rice	Australia	04: 31.46	March 22, 2008	Sydney
37	Katie Hoff	United States	04: 31.12	June 29, 2008	Omaha
38	Stephanie Rice	Australia	04: 29.45	August 10, 2008	Beijing
39	Ye Shiwen	People's Republic of China	04: 28.43	July 28, 2012	London
40	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	04: 26.36	August 6, 2016	Rio de Janeiro

Short course world records men

Men's world records over 400 m medley (25 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Luca Sacchi	Italy	04: 08.77	February 28, 1992	Palma
2	Jani Sievinen	Finland	04: 07.10	February 9, 1993	Malmo
3	Jani Sievinen	Finland	04: 06.03	January 20, 1996	Lappeenranta
4th	Marcel Wouda	Netherlands	04: 05.59	February 1, 1997	Gelsenkirchen
5	Marcel Wouda	Netherlands	04: 05.41	February 8, 1997	Paris
6th	Matthew Dunn	Australia	04: 04.24	September 24, 1998	Perth
7th	Brian Johns	Canada	04: 02.72	February 23, 2003	Victoria
8th	László Cseh	Hungary	04: 00.37	December 9, 2005	Trieste
9	László Cseh	Hungary	03: 59.33	December 14, 2007	Debrecen
10	László Cseh	Hungary	03: 57.27	December 11, 2009	Istanbul
11	Ryan Lochte	United States	03: 55.50	December 16, 2010	Dubai
12	Daiya Seto	Japan	03: 54.81	20th December 2019	Las Vegas

(This list is not yet complete)

Short course world records women

World records for women over 400 m individual medley (25 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Guohong Dai	People's Republic of China	04: 29.00	2nd December 1993	Palma
2	Jana Klotschkowa	Ukraine	04: 27.83	January 19, 2002	Paris
3	Kirsty Coventry	Zimbabwe	04: 26.52	April 9, 2008	Manchester
4th	Julia Smit	United States	04: 25.87	November 28, 2008	Toronto
5	Mireia Belmonte	Spain	04: 25.06	December 14, 2008	Rijeka
6th	Kathryn Meaklim	South Africa	04: 22.88	November 22, 2009	Singapore
7th	Julia Smit	United States	04: 21.04	December 18, 2009	Manchester
8th	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	04: 22.18	August 8, 2013	Eindhoven
8th	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	04: 20.85	August 11, 2013	Berlin
9	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	04: 20.83	August 28, 2014	Doha
10	Mireia Belmonte	Spain	04: 19.86	3rd December 2014	Doha
11	Katinka Hosszú	Hungary	04: 19.46	2nd December 2015	Netanya
12	Mireia Belmonte	Spain	04: 18.94	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 400 meters
• The swimming pool

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. Also with effect from May 1, 1957, underwater swimming was banned, which was mainly practiced in the butterfly and breast sub-disciplines for reasons of lower water resistance. With the butterfly style, no underwater arm pull was allowed after the start or the turn, in the chest position only one underwater pull with symmetrical arm and leg movements was allowed to be carried out after the start or the turn, and both hands had to be used to hit the target touch the pool wall at the same time.