Felix Auboeck Goes Sub-4:10 in 500 Free for 3rd Time in His Career

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The list of athletes who have swum sub-4:10 in the 500 yard freestyle is growing. The club is still exclusive – 12 guys have done it, but it is a less-exclusive barrier than, say the number of swimmers who have gone sub-41 in the 100 free (only 4), or women who have gone sub-4:30 in the 500 free (just 2).

The list of swimmers who have gone sub-4:10 twice is much smaller (4), and the list of guys who have done it thrice is even smaller.

That list grew by 1 on Thursday, however, when Michigan sophomore Felix Auboeck became the 3rd swimmer to go sub-4:10 for a 3rd time in his career. That was thanks to a Big Ten Pool and Meet Record of 4:09.29 on Thursday at the 2018 Big Ten Championships.

The old Meet Record was his own, done at last year’s meet in 4:10.63. The old Pool Record at the University of Minnesota was much older – Larsen Jensen swam 4:09.80 at the 2007 NCAA Championship meet.

The other guys who have been sub-4:10 in three different swims are Texas’ Clark Smith, who was last year’s NCAA Champion in the event (4:08.42, 4:08.82, 4:09.72); and Peter Vanderkaay, a 6-time NCAA Champion (4:08.54, 4:08.60, 4:09.82). Townley Haas, the 2016 NCAA Champion, has also been sub-4:10 twice (4:08.92, 4:09.00).

Of the 18 sub-4:10 swims done, 6 have been done by Michigan-trained swimmers (Vanderkaay did 2 while on Michigan’s varsity squad, and his best time while training as a post-grad at Club Wolverine). Michael Klueh, a Texas alum, did his 4:09.32 while in college, but later joined Michigan’s post-grad group as well.

Auboeck’s swim was also the 10th-best performance in history, just-missing his personal best of 4:08.95 done at last year’s NCAA Championship meet via a 3rd-place finish. He also swam 4:09.93 at NCAAs last year in prelims.