Men’s 400m Freestyle – Long Course World Record & Splits

Updated August 2026

Current Records

Record	Athlete	Time
World Record	Lukas Märtens	3:39.96
Olympic Record	Sun Yang	3:40.14
World Junior Record	Zhang Zhanshuo	3:42.99
Commonwealth Record	Ian Thorpe	3:40.08

Top 10 All-Time Performers

#	Athlete	50	100	200 (split / total)	300 (split / total)	400 (split / total)
1	Lukas Märtens	24.75	51.90	55.65 / 1:47.55	56.46 / 2:44.01	55.95 / 3:39.96
2	Paul Biedermann	26.69	54.82	56.60 / 1:51.42	56.15 / 2:47.57	52.90 / 3:40.07
3	Ian Thorpe	25.33	53.02	56.55 / 1:49.57	55.86 / 2:45.43	54.65 / 3:40.08
4	Sun Yang	25.83	53.59	56.93 / 1:50.52	56.12 / 2:46.64	53.50 / 3:40.14
5	Samuel Short	25.36	52.54	55.54 / 1:48.08	56.24 / 2:44.32	56.20 / 3:40.52
6	Ahmed Hafnaoui	26.07	53.82	55.68 / 1:49.50	56.13 / 2:45.63	55.07 / 3:40.70
7	Oussama Mellouli	25.95	53.86	56.58 / 1:50.44	55.85 / 2:46.29	54.82 / 3:41.11
8	Elijah Winnington	25.30	52.96	57.01 / 1:49.97	56.92 / 2:46.89	54.33 / 3:41.22
9	Zhang Lin	26.30	53.97	56.74 / 1:50.71	56.44 / 2:47.15	54.20 / 3:41.35
10	Park Tae-hwan	—	—	— / —	— / —	— / 3:41.53

50 = opening 50 ·
100 = total at 100 ·
200 / 300 / 400 = that 100m split / race total
(400 = last 100 / final time).
Park Tae-hwan splits not in source.

Split Analysis & Comparison

The table below compares elite 400m freestyle long-course performances.
Use it to review splits, stroke counts, and race patterns. Data is collected
from official results and race footage where available.

Men’s 400m Freestyle – Long Course
	Lukas Martens	Paul Biedermann	Ian Thorpe	Sun Yang	Samuel Short	Ahmed Hafnaoui	Ous Mellouli	Elijah Winnington	Zhang Lin	Park Taehwan
Height:	6 ft 4 in 192cm	6 ft 4 in 193cm	6 ft 5 in 196cm	6 ft 7 in 200cm		6 ft 4 in 195cm	6 ft 4 in 192cm	6 ft 1 in 186cm	6 ft 2 in 188cm	6 ft 0 in 183cm
Weight:	165Ib 75kg	205Ib 93kg	229Ib 104kg	196Ib 89kg		185lb 84kg	185Ib 84kg	172lb 78kg	170Ib 77kg	168Ib 76kg
Country:	GER	GER	AUS	CHN	AUS	TUN	TUN	AUS	CHN	KOR
DOB:	2001-12-27	1986-08-07	1982-10-13	1991-12-01	2003-09-17	2002-12-04	1984-02-19	2000-05-05	1987-01-06	1989-09-27
Meet:	2025 Swim Open Stockholm	13th FINA World Championships 2009	17th Commonwealth Games 2002	Olympic Games London 2012	2026 Australian Trials	World Aquatics Championships – Fukuoka 2023	13th FINA World Championships 2009	19th FINA World Championships Budapest 2022	13th FINA World Championships 2009	16th Asian Games 2010

1st 50m Split	24.75	26.69	25.33	25.83	25.22	26.07	25.95	25.30	26.30	25.87
Strokes	30	27	27			29		29	30
Split Time:	24.75	26.69	25.33	25.83	25.22	26.07	25.95	25.30	26.30	25.87

2nd 50m Split	27.15	28.13	27.69	27.76	27.06	27.75	27.91	27.66	27.67	27.93
Strokes	34	29	28			32	31	33	32	31
Split Time:	51.90	54.42	53.02	53.59	52.28	53.82	53.86	52.96	53.97	53.80

3rd 50m Split	27.75	28.01	28.25	28.34	27.19	27.89	28.15	28.26	28.43	27.72
Strokes	35	30	30	28		–	32	34	33	31
Split Time:	1:19.65	1:22.43	1:21.27	1:21.93	1:19.47	1:21.71	1:22.01	1:21.22	1:22.40	1:21.52

4th 50m Split	27.90	28.59	28.30	28.59	27.86	27.79	28.43	28.75	28.31	27.97
Strokes	35	30	29			33	32	34?	34	32
Split Time:	1:47.55	1:51.02	1:49.57	1:50.52	1:47.33	1:49.50	1:50.44	1:49.97	1:50.71	1:49.49

5th 50m Split	28.28	27.76	27.81	27.98	27.89	28.03	27.76	28.69	28.41	28.18
Strokes	35	30	30	29		33	33	34	35	32
Split Time:	2:15.83	2:18.78	2:17.38	2:18.50	2:15.22	2:17.53	2:18.20	2:18.66	2:19.12	2:17.67

6th 50m Split	28.18	28.39	28.05	28.14	28.47	28.10	28.09	28.23	28.03	28.66
Strokes	36	31	30	30		37	32	34	35	33
Split Time:	2:44.01	2:47.17	2:45.43	2:46.64	2:43.69	2:45.63	2:46.29	2:46.89	2:47.15	2:46.33

7th 50m Split	28.38	27.13	27.61	27.10	28.69	27.97	27.66	27.83	27.72	28.06
Strokes	36	33	31			–	34	34	36	33
Split Time:	3:12.39	3:14.30	3:13.04	3:13.74	3:12.38	3:13.60	3:13.95	3:14.72	3:14.87	3:14.39

8th 50m Split	27.57	25.77	27.04	26.40	28.29	27.10	27.16	26.50	26.48	27.14
Strokes	37	36	31	33		37	35	38	37	36

Total Time:	3:39.96	3:40.07	3:40.08	3:40.14	3:40.67	3:40.70	3:41.11	3:41.22	3:41.35	3:41.53

Race Videos

Swim Calculators

Tool	What it does
Swim Pace Calculator	Pace, time, and distance (min/100m or min/100yds).
Goal Time / Split Calculator	Target splits for metres racing.
Yards Goal Calculator	Target splits for yards racing.
Race Review Calculator	Find strengths and weaknesses in a completed race.
Medley Relay Calculator	Build the fastest relay order from up to 6 swimmers’ PBs.