List of swimming world records over 800 meters freestyle

The swimming world records in the 800 m freestyle are the best times swum in the 800 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 800 m freestyle (50 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Arne Borg	Sweden	10: 43.6	April 11, 1924	Honolulu
2	Arne Borg	Sweden	10: 37.4	August 25, 1925	Urine
3	Jean Taris	France	10: 19.6	May 30, 1930	Paris
4th	Jean Taris	France	10: 17.2	June 9, 1931	Cannes
5	Makino Shozo	Japan	10: 08.6	March 25, 1933	Tokyo
6th	Makino Shozo	Japan	10: 01.2	September 16, 1933	Tokyo
7th	Makino Shozo	Japan	09: 55.8	September 15, 1934	Tokyo
8th	Hiroshin Furuhashi	Japan	09: 45.6	June 26, 1949	Tokyo
9	Shiro Hashizume	Japan	09: 45.0	August 16, 1949	los Angeles
10	Hiroshin Furuhashi	Japan	09: 40.7	August 16, 1949	los Angeles
11	Hiroshin Furuhashi	Japan	09: 35.5	August 19, 1949	los Angeles
12	John Konrads	Australia	09: 17.7	January 11, 1958	Sydney
13	George Breen	United States	09: 15.7	October 27, 1956	New Haven
14th	John Konrads	Australia	09: 14.5	February 22, 1958	Melbourne
15th	John Konrads	Australia	08: 59.6	January 10, 1959	Sydney
16	Rose Murray	Australia	08: 47.4	August 26, 1962	Los Altos
17th	Semion Belitz-Geiman	Soviet Union	08: 47.4	3rd August 1966	Krakow
18th	John Bennett	Australia	08: 47.3	January 16, 1967	Sydney
19th	Alain Mosconi	France	08: 46.8	5th July 1967	Monte Carlo
20th	Mike Burton	United States	08: 34.3	3rd September 1968	Long Beach
21st	Mike Burton	United States	08: 28.8	17th August 1969	Louisville
22nd	Graham Windeatt	Australia	08: 28.6	3rd April 1971	Sydney
23	Stephen Holland	Australia	08: 16.27	September 8, 1973	Belgrade
24	Stephen Holland	Australia	08: 15.88	20th January 1975	Christchurch
25th	Stephen Holland	Australia	08: 15.02	20th January 1975	Christchurch
26th	Tim Shaw	United States	08: 13.68	June 21, 1975	Long Beach
27	Tim Shaw	United States	08: 09.60	July 12, 1975	Mission Viejo
28	Stephen Holland	Australia	08: 06.27	February 27, 1976	Sydney
29	Stephen Holland	Australia	08: 02.91	February 29, 1976	Sydney
30th	Bobby Hackett	United States	08: 01.54	June 21, 1976	Long Beach
31	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	07: 56.49	March 23, 1979	Minsk
32	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	07: 52.83	February 14, 1982	Moscow
33	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	07: 52.33	July 14, 1983	los Angeles
34	Vladimir Salnikov	Soviet Union	07: 50.64	4th July 1986	Moscow
35	Kieren Perkins	Australia	07: 47.85	August 25, 1991	Edmonton
36	Kieren Perkins	Australia	07: 46.60	February 15, 1992	Sydney
37	Kieren Perkins	Australia	07: 46.00	August 24, 1994	Victoria
38	Ian Thorpe	Australia	07: 41.59	March 26, 2001	Hobart
39	Ian Thorpe	Australia	07: 39.16	July 24, 2001	Fukuoka
40	Grant Hackett	Australia	07: 38.65	July 27, 2005	Montreal
41	Zhang Lin	People's Republic of China	07: 32.12	July 29, 2009	Rome

(This list is not yet complete)

Long track world records women

World records for women in the 800 m freestyle (50 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Gertrude Ederle	United States	13: 19.0	August 17, 1919	Indianapolis
2	Ethel Mcgary	United States	12: 58.2	August 6, 1925	Detroit
3	Ethel Mcgary	United States	12: 56.0	August 15, 1925	Indianapolis
4th	Martha Norelius	United States	12: 47.2	August 7, 1926	Philadelphia
5	Martha Norelius	United States	12: 17.8	July 31, 1927	Massapequa
6th	Josephine McKim	United States	12: 03.8	August 10, 1929	Honolulu
7th	Helene Madison	United States	11: 41.2	July 6, 1930	Long Beach
8th	Laura Knight	United States	11: 34.4	July 21, 1935	Manhattan Beach
9	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	11: 11.7	July 3, 1936	Copenhagen
10	Ragnhild Hveger	Denmark	10: 52.5	August 13, 1941	Copenhagen
11	Valéria Gyenge	Hungary	10: 42.4	June 28, 1953	Budapest
12	Lorraine Crapp	Australia	10: 30.9	January 14, 1956	Sydney
13	Mary Kok	Netherlands	10: 27.3	February 16, 1957	Durban
14th	Ilsa Konrads	Australia	10: 17.7	January 9, 1958	Sydney
15th	Ilsa Konrads	Australia	10: 16.2	February 20, 1958	Melbourne
16	Ilsa Konrads	Australia	10: 11.8	June 13, 1958	Townsville
17th	Ilsa Konrads	Australia	10: 11.4	19th February 1959	Hobart
18th	Jane Cederqvist	Sweden	09: 55.6	17th August 1960	Uppsala
19th	Carolyn House	United States	09: 51.6	August 26, 1962	Los Altos
20th	Patty Caretto	United States	09: 47.3	July 30, 1964	Los Altos
21st	Sharon Finneran	United States	09: 36.9	September 28, 1964	los Angeles
22nd	Debbie Meyer	United States	09: 35.8	July 9, 1967	Santa Clara
23	Debbie Meyer	United States	09: 22.9	July 29, 1967	Winnipeg
24	Debbie Meyer	United States	09: 19.0	July 29, 1967	los Angeles
25th	Debbie Meyer	United States	09: 17.8	July 21, 1968	Lincoln
26th	Debbie Meyer	United States	09: 10.4	August 28, 1968	los Angeles
27	Karen Moras	Australia	09: 09.1	March 1, 1970	Sydney
28	Karen Moras	Australia	09: 02.4	18th July 1970	Edinburgh
29	Ann Simmons	United States	08: 59.4	September 10, 1971	Minsk
30th	Shane Gould	Australia	08: 58.1	3rd December 1971	Sydney
31	Jo Harshbarger	United States	08: 53.83	August 6, 1972	Chicago
32	Keena Rothhammer	United States	08: 53.68	3rd September 1972	Munich
33	Novella Calligaris	Italy	08: 52.97	September 9, 1973	Belgrade
34	Jenny Turrall	Australia	08: 50.10	5th January 1974	Sydney
35	Jo Harshbarger	United States	08: 47.50	August 25, 1974	Concord
36	Jenny Turrall	Australia	08: 43.48	March 31, 1975	London
37	Petra Thümer	GDR	08: 40.68	4th June 1976	Berlin
38	Shirley Babashoff	United States	08: 39.63	June 21, 1976	Long Beach
39	Petra Thümer	GDR	08: 37.14	July 25, 1976	Montreal
40	Petra Thümer	GDR	08: 35.04	July 9, 1977	Leipzig
41	Michelle Ford	Australia	08: 34.86	January 6, 1978	Brisbane
42	Michelle Ford	Australia	08: 31.30	January 21, 1978	Sydney
43	Tracey Wickham	Australia	08: 30.53	February 21, 1978	Brisbane
44	Tracey Wickham	Australia	08: 24.62	5th August 1978	Edmonton
45	Janet Evans	United States	08: 22.44	July 27, 1987	Clovis
46	Anke Möhring	GDR	08: 19.53	August 19, 1987	Strasbourg
47	Janet Evans	United States	08: 17.12	March 22, 1988	Orlando
48	Janet Evans	United States	08: 16.22	August 20, 1989	Tokyo
49	Rebecca Adlington	United Kingdom	08: 14.10	August 16, 2008	Beijing
50	Katie Ledecky	United States	08: 13.86	3rd August 2013	Barcelona
51	Katie Ledecky	United States	08: 11.00	June 22, 2014	Shenandoah
52	Katie Ledecky	United States	08: 07.39	August 8, 2015	Kazan
53	Katie Ledecky	United States	08: 06.68	17th January 2016	Austin
54	Katie Ledecky	United States	08: 04.79	August 12, 2016	Rio de Janeiro

Short course world records men

World records for men in the 800 m freestyle (25 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Kieren Perkins	Australia	07: 34.90	July 25, 1993	Sydney
2	Grant Hackett	Australia	07: 25.28	August 3, 2001	Perth
3	Grant Hackett	Australia	07: 23.42	July 20, 2008	Melbourne

(This list is not yet complete)

Short course world records women

World records for women in the 800 m freestyle (25 m track)

No.	athlete	nation	time	date	place
1	Hua Chen	People's Republic of China	08: 15.15	December 3, 2001	Shanghai
2	Sachiko Yamada	Japan	08: 14.35	February 4, 2002	Tokyo
3	Laure Manaudou	France	08: 11.25	December 9, 2005	Trieste
4th	Kate Ziegler	United States	08: 09.68	October 12, 2007	eat
5	Kate Ziegler	United States	08: 08.00	October 14, 2007	eat
6th	Alessia Filippi	Italy	08: 04.53	December 12, 2008	Rijeka
7th	Camille Muffat	France	08: 01.06	November 16, 2012	Angers
8th	Mireia Belmonte	Spain	07: 59.34	August 10, 2013	Berlin

See also

• List of swimming world records
• List of European swimming records
• List of European swimming records over 50 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)