7TH FINA WORLD JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019
- Duna Arena, Budapest (Hungary)
- Pool swimming: Tuesday, August 20 – Sunday, August 25, 2019
- Heats 9:30am GMT+2 (3:30 am EDT / 12:30 am PDT)/ Semifinals and Finals 5:30pm GMT+2 (11:30am EDT / 8:30am PDT)
- 50-meter (LCM) course
- Meet site
- Entries book
- FinaTV Live Stream (subscription required)
- Live results
The men’s 400m freestyle represented 1 of 2 events whose Championships Record bit the dust on just day 1 heats of the 2019 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships. And, the event’s mark went down via an unlikely source.
16-year-old Gabor Zombori of Hungary had never before been under the 3:50 threshold in the men’s 400m free. In fact, his lifetime best entering Budapest sat at the 3:53.30 he produced at the Hungarian Youth Championships in May of this year, meaning he’s never even been under the 3:53 threshold.
Flash forward to this morning’s heats, however, and Zombori came out like a bandit, splitting 53.44/58.53/58.93/56.07, including a final 50m leg of 27.46, to crush the field in a wicked-fast 3:46.97. Along with Jake Mitchell of the United States (3:49.43) and Thomas Neill of Australia (3:49.88), teen Zombori collected the only sub-3:50 effort of the morning.
Zombori’s time laid waste to the previous Championships Record time of 3:47.12 that Olympic champion Mack Horton of Australia set back at the 2013 edition of these World Junior Championships. For additional perspective, the teen’s time would have finished 10th at this year’s World Championships.
More locally, Zombori’s effort checks him in as the fastest Hungarian 18&U ever, overtaking Kristof Milak‘s previous Age Record of 3:48.08 clocked at last year’s Youth Olympic Games. Milak went on to produce the World Record in the men’s 200m fly at this year’s senior World Championships in Gwangju, Korea.
Top 18&U Hungarian 400m Freestylers All-Time
| 3:46.97 | Gabor Zombori | HUN | 7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships 2019 | 8/20/2019 | Budapest |
| 3:48.08 | Kristof Milak | HUN | Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 | 10/7/2018 | Buenos Aires |
| 3:48.71 | Kristof Milak | HUN | CXX. Hungarian Championships | 3/29/2018 | Debrecen |
| 3:49.97 | Balazs Hollo | HUN | 2017 World JR Champs | 8/23/2017 | Indianapolis,IN |
| 3:50.00 | Kristof Milak | HUN | 7/4/2018 | Helsinki |