The 23rd of July 2023, one of the greatest days in the recent history of swimming, saw the oldest and 2nd newest world record on the books be wiped away. France’s Leon Marchand cruised by the 5460 days old record set by Michael Phelps in the men’s 400 IM, and Australia’s Ariarne Titmus took out the 117-day-old record of Summer McIntosh in the women’s 400 free.
Marchand’s time of 4:02.50 easily surpassed the 4:03.84 posted by Phelps back at the 2008 Olympic Games. A record that granted Phelps the accolade of holding a long course record for the longest time ever. He first broke the 400 IM record in 2002 and rebroke it a further seven times over the 21-year stretch he held it.
Titmus, one of many in a long line of Australian freestyle stars, took McIntosh’s 400 free record from 3:56.08 to 3:55.38 in a stunning performance. McIntosh held the record from her swim at the 2023 Canadian Trials, a meet that also saw her break the 400 IM record.
With Phelps’s name erased from the record board in the 400 IM, one must begin the search for the next oldest record that is waiting to be broken.
Men
The now oldest LCM record on the books is not only a male swimming record but also held by a familiar name.
To be fair, he doesn’t hold it alone. One day after his 400 IM, the team of Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones, and Jason Lezak came together to set a new benchmark in the 4×100 free relay. Their time of 3:08.24 shattered the previous record of 3:12.23, which coincidentally was set the night before, in the prelims, by Nathan Adrian, Cullen Jones, Ben Wildman-Tobriner, and Matt Grevers.
In the post-super suit era, only the American squad of Caeleb Dressel, Blake Pieroni, Bowe Becker, and Zach Apple have broken the 3:09 barrier; they swam 3:08.97 to win the gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Paul Biedermann ©Andrea D’ErricoLaPresse
While relay teams have come close, it would take all four members to be firing on all cylinders to surpass this record, especially seeing as Lezak anchored in 46.06. Only Great Britain’s Duncan Scott and Australia’s Kyle Chalmers have been within half a second. Scott swam 46.14 in 2019, and Chalmers swam 46.44 in 2021.
Looking at individual events, the oldest on the books currently is the men’s 400 freestyle, a record that dates back to the 2009 World Championships. It is one of five still on the books from that meet but was set the earliest in the program (the other records are the 200 free, 800 free, 200 back, and 4×200 free relay).
Germany’s Paul Biedermann swam 3:40.07 to take the record away from Ian Thorpe, who had held it from 2002 on. While the record has been thought of as nearly unassailable, this year’s Worlds saw two swimmers get within a second of that time. Sam Short and Ahmed Hafnaoui swam 3:40.68 and 3:40.70, the two closest times since Sun Yang swam 3:40.14 over a decade ago at the 2012 London Olympics.
Men’s Oldest LCM Records
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Time |
| August 11th, 2008 | 4×100 Free Relay | Phelps, Weber-Gale, Jones, Lezak (USA) | 3:08.24 |
| July 26th, 2009 | 400 Free | Paul Biedermann (GER) | 3:40.07 |
| July 28th, 2009 | 200 Free | Paul Biedermann (GER) | 1:42.00 |
Women
A few days after Titmus broke one of the newest world records on the book in the 400 free, her compatriot, Mollie O’Callaghan, took out the oldest women’s record on the books: Federica Pellegrini’s 200 free. Like Biederman’s, Pellegrini’s 1:52.98 was set at the 2009 World Championships in a supersuit.
Before 2023, only four swimmers had been within a second of Pellegrini’s time: Titmus in 2021 (1:53.09), Allison Schmitt in 2012 (1:53.61), Katie Ledecky in 2016 (1:53.73), Siobhan Haughey in 2021 (1:53.92).
However, this year saw O’Callaghan and McIntosh join the party, with the Aussie taking the gold and world record in a time of 1:52.85, making her only the second female to swim under the 1:53 barrier.
With the 200 free record gone, the women’s record board only contains one record left from the super-suit era, a testament to the depth and talent that has emerged in women’s swimming led by the aforementioned Titmus, O’Callaghan, Ledecky, McIntosh, as well as Sarah Sjostrom, Kaylee McKeown, Katinka Hosszu (by no means an exclusive list).
Liu Zige (Photo Credit Victor Puig, victorpuig.com)
That one record is the 200 fly record held by China’s Liu Zige. Unlike the 200 free, this record was set at the Chinese National Games held in October of 2009. The record had been set by Mary Descenza in the heats of the 2009 World Champs and then broken a day later by Jessicah Schipper to rest at 2:03.41. Liu placed 2nd in the final with a time of 2:03.90 but took the event to a whole new level when she swam 2:01.81.
Since 2009 no swimmer has been within a second of that time; in fact, no swimmer has been within two seconds. The closest was Zhang Yufei, who swam 2:03.86 to win the gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Regan Smith is the only other swimmer to have swum sub 2:04 when she set the American record of 2:03.87 in June of this year.
Women’s Oldest LCM Records
| Date | Event | Swimmer | Time |
| October 21st, 2009 | 200 Fly | Liu Zige (CHN) | 2:01.81 |
| July 5th, 2014 | 50 Fly | Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) | 24.43 |
| August 3rd, 2015 | 200 IM | Katinka Hosszu (HUN) | 2:06.12 |
I’ve just watched the video of Phelps swimming the 4IM in Beijing. Great swim. Has Rowdy Gaines really been annoying people for this long?
I bet RanRun crashed its servers the day that Bob Beamon jumped almost two feet past the old long jump world record, and then never approached it ever again.
Reading all these comments made me feel for Biedermann a little… I believe the reason behind the large difference in his suited vs non-suited times are a combination of the suits benefitting his body type more than others and him peaking exactly in 2009 (he was 23 at the time).
He should definitely be remembered as a world champion since he won fair and square, but do I think he (and other super-suited record breakers) deserve to keep the world records? I don’t think it’s a straightforward yes or no, and here’s why:
It’s easy to say for Biedermann’s 400 because he broke it by 0.01 and we are confident he got much more of a boost than that… Read more »
It’s really tough. I don’t harbor any ill will toward any swimmers but it’s unfortunate the way things happened.
FINA couldn’t do the right thing at the outset and opened Pandora’s box and we have been picking up the pieces for 14 years.
Think about all the swimmers that have come and gone in the interim and the context (and WR bonuses) that have been missed by them.
I believe the hate is really all because he broke Thorpe and Phelps WRs.
Particularly with Phelps, if he had set the WR in 2009 it wouldn’t be a big deal.
His 2009 swims were the perfect storm of his improvement and the suit. He swam 1:44’s in textile aftwrwards
His sin was breaking the records of two of the most revered swimmers in history
Not his fault
Now let’s discuss the women’s 200 fly 😂
Keep in mind Peirsol’s WR was in a leg-skin, not full body. Just saying…
Agree with everything, th 200 free record has been criticized because Biederman defeated Phelps by a body length, all the swimmers had all the approved suits available and they choose which to wear, but sponsorships limited some cases and if one brand had a better suit its not the swimmers fault.
Like Biederman, Phelps never went faster in a textile suit
I personally feel that every super-suited world record that gets broken is a win for swimming as a whole. But wow the Biedermann world records going down would be extra sweet. Even Biedermann himself said that the suit boosted him by about 0.5 seconds per 50, and he may have been a little conservative there. Those are times you would expect from someone in the swimming GOAT conversation, not from someone whose career would be remembered in the same tier as or potentially below someone like Gabriel Detti (not trying to roast Detti here, he was just the first random equivalent swimmer I could think of). Hafnaoui and Short have me convinced that the 400 free record is on borrowed… Read more »
Britta Steffen calls her suit “Hydrofoil”
I have high hopes for Kos to at least get close to the 200 back WR. His trajectory was crazy in 2023 so far (he dropped like 3.5 seconds), and his 1:54.1 was virtually a 1:53 with a proper finish (he was going all over the place at the end and took like 2 unnecessary strokes before touching the wall). His underwaters, while decent, also have room for improvement, and so do his turns. Still seems unlikely, but I wouldn’t be super surprised if he gets in the 1:52 mid range.
About Paul Biedermann’s WR, it is what is. We can’t rewrite the story. I think the 400 WR might be broken next year at Paris Olympics. We saw the battle between Short and Hafnaoui in Japan. Many swimmers are close to the WR now. On the other hand, the 200 free is on another level. I bet, but maybe I’m wrong, that the record, will still stand in five years until LA 2028 Olympics. Even Popovici is far away to break it for now. The 800 free by Zhang Lin is very high too. Year after year we can see that swimmers are closer but Hafnaoui is 5 seconds away from the record.
The 200 back will be very… Read more »
Would love to see an article on the most pleasing and round numbered WRs, like Lochte’s 1.54.00
Paul Biedermann’s 200 free WR is 1:42.00
I also like women’s 200 fly 2:01.81 it’s easy to remember.
But my favorite WR ever is Mary T. Meagher 2:05.96
Thorpe’s 3:40.08 deserves to be the oldest standing WR.
It would be easier to stomach if the guy that broke it had put together any kind of resume without a rubber suit.
What are world medals not good enough for you? I’ve never understood the Biedermann hate, everyone was wearing the supersuits back then. Yes, they disproportionately benefitted some bodies, that’s a big part of why they were banned, but I makes no sense to hold that against the swimmer themselves.
Not everyone in this sport is going to be an Ian Thorpe or a Phelps. That’s just how reality goes. Doesn’t mean they can’t have accomplishments, and Biedermann did, this is just a straight up misrepresentation of his career.
No it is not a misrepresentation of his career.
Without the suits…some people may remember Paul Biedermann as a guy who won a few bronze medals at Long Course world’s. Most people probably wouldn’t.
Instead he is going to go down as one of if not the longest standing middle distance WR holder ahead of way better swimmers.
This man went 1:44.8 and 3:44.1 without a rubber suit. He wasn’t even as good of a swimmer as 16 year old Thorpe.
1 44 8 is elite esp in that era bar 1-2 swimmers nobody was swimming 1 44’s. Your point regarding the 400m stands but stop making stuff up 🙂
Stop making stuff up
Biedermann made a single 1:44.8
These are swimmers that swam multiple 1:44s between 2010 and 2013:
Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Sun Yang, Yannick Agnel, Park Tae Hwan.
That would be like Kieran Smith wear a rubber suit and swim 1:41 and 3:38 for new WRs.
I love Thorpe like any reasonable swimfan, but I hate the whining about Biedermann’s WRs. They are legit like every other super suited WR is and are eventually gonna get broken. He broke Thorpe’s old WR fair and square, and that’s it. His performance outside of Rome or supersuits is irrelevant, because he stepped up in Rome and delivered (also, wasn’t Thorpe the first to wear full body suits?), and any accusations of doping are highly offensive because he has never been caught using any kind of illegal substance.
He broke it by 1/100th and never came within 4 seconds afterwards.
One of the fakest records we have left along with the women’s 200 fly.
Call it a fluke if you like, but there are no fake world records
It is fake imo because it wouldn’t exist if FINA had done the right thing from the start.
They didn’t and we have been picking up the pieces for 14 years.
Many swimmers have come and gone since in multiple events and deserved to break the WRs and didn’t – almost all of whom were miles better than the record holder on the books.
Neither one is fake my friend. These kind of things happen sometimes, and Ian Thorpe isn’t the main character of swimming.
Liu Zige is not fake.
She won world Championship, she won Olympics, and she swam the fastest textile 200 fly.