2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet site
- Competition Schedule
- FinaTV Live Stream
- Entry Lists
- Results
After coming just seven one-hundredths off of it in the preliminaries, David Aubry smashed France’s National Record in the final of the men’s 800 free, registering a time of 7:42.08.
Aubry first broke the record back in April at the French Championships, downing a 9-year-old mark in 7:46.30, and then was the #2 qualifier out of the prelims here in Gwangju in 7:46.37.
In the final, Gregorio Paltrinieri pulled away from the pack at around the 300m mark, and Aubry was locked in a battle for the minor medals with Gabriele Detti, Jack McLoughlin and Henrik Christiansen.
Paltrinieri cruised to gold in a new European Record of 7:39.27, and Christiansen had a big back half to take second in a Norwegian Record of 7:41.28.
Aubry used a 26.53 final 50 to move by McLoughlin and pick up the bronze, taking out his National Record by over four seconds.
SPLIT COMPARISON
Compared to his swim from a few months ago, Aubry was quicker on all but three of the 50s in his swim tonight.
| Aubry, 2019 French Champs | Aubry, 2019 World Champs |
| 27.45 | 26.65 |
| 56.64 (29.19) | 55.70 (29.05) |
| 1:26.03 (29.39) | 1:24.75 (29.05) |
| 1:55.26 (29.23) | 1:53.64 (28.89) |
| 2:25.02 (29.76) | 2:22.83 (29.19) |
| 2:54.62 (29.60) | 2:52.00 (29.17) |
| 3:24.35 (29.73) | 3:21.35 (29.35) |
| 3:54.02 (29.67) | 3:50.76 (29.41) |
| 4:23.51 (29.49) | 4:20.28 (29.52) |
| 4:52.87 (29.36) | 4:49.57 (29.29) |
| 5:22.42 (29.55) | 5:19.11 (29.54) |
| 5:51.85 (29.43) | 5:48.59 (29.48) |
| 6:21.44 (29.59) | 6:17.97 (29.38) |
| 6:50.64 (29.20) | 6:46.95 (28.98) |
| 7:19.07 (28.43) | 7:15.55 (28.60) |
| 7:46.30 (27.23) | 7:42.08 (26.53) |
Prior to breaking the record in April, the 22-year-old’s best time was 7:50.09. The previous French Record holder was Sebastien Rouault, who was 7:48.28 at the 2010 European Championships
This is his second international medal after winning bronze at Euros last summer in the Open Water Team Event.
In the all-time rankings, Aubry moves up from 25th to 11th-fastest in history. Both Paltrinieri and Christiansen improved on their historical rankings in the race as well.
ALL-TIME PERFORMERS, MEN’S 800 FREESTYLE
- Zhang Lin (CHN), 7:32.12 – 2009
- Oussama Mellouli (TUN), 7:35.27 – 209
- Sun Yang (CHN), 7:38.57 – 2011
- Grant Hackett (AUS), 7:38.65 – 2005
- Ian Thorpe (AUS), 7:39.16 – 2001
- Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA), 7:39.27 – 2019
- Gabriele Detti (ITA), 7:40.77 – 2017
- Henrik Christiansen (NOR), 7:41.28 – 2019
- Wojciech Wojdak (POL), 7:41.73 – 2017
- Ryan Cochrane (CAN), 7:41.86 – 2011
- David Aubry (FRA), 7:42.08 – 2019