The 14:30 mark in the 1500m freestyle is something that has been talked about ever since Grant Hackett went a 14:34.56 at the 2001 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Since then, a few have been close to breaking the 14:30 barrier with the likes of Sun Yang’s 14:31.02 from the London Olympic Games. Like always however, there are a few major players in the 1500 freestyle who lead the event years at a time.
Canada’s Ryan Cochrane is one of them. He’s medalled at every international competition in the 1500 since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and believes that the 14:30 mark isn’t too far off.
Cochrane holds a personal best time of 14:39.63 from the London Olympics. He believes that all of the major players such as the United States’ Connor Jaeger, Sun Yang, and a couple others, will help push the event past another major barrier.
Vladamir Salnikov was the first man to ever break the 15:00 barrier in the 1500 with his historic swim from the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow which many of the Western countries boycotted.
Twelve years later at the 1992 Olympic Games Kieren Perkins became the first man under 14:45 with a 14:43.48.
Now, with the question of 14:30 on the line, it seems as though the race is on for the first man to ever dip under that barrier.
typo…Vladimir Salnikov not Solnikov.
Am a big fan of his. He actually deserves medals and records
If Paltrinieri can develop a kick at the end of his race, he will be very hard to beat anytime soon – His feet almost ‘dangle’ for 1400m.
Actually, Paltrinieri is the worst of them all on all scores, in terms of technique … “dangling” feet as you point out, poor turns and poor streamlining after the turn, his stroke is not particularly good to look at … and while some would object that it is the clock that counts, I believe he would have been an even greater swimmer, had he been taught better technique when he was younger
What a great representative for Canadian swimming: intelligent, hard-working, consistent, positive, articulate and humble despite his international success!
If only there was a way to prevent every swimmer who has been helped by performance-enhancing drugs from entering his races! I’d really love to see him end his career with Olympic gold!