Swimming's Greatest World Records
10/04/2024 07:30 AM
It's often said that the greatest records in sport are those that truly burst the floodgates open. A generational athlete dares to realize the impossible barriers that have been viewed by fans, coaches, and the competition as the boundary of physical capability.
These legendary world records often withstand the ultimate test of time, surviving challenges from new waves of generational talents for years and even decades — a true testament to how far these performances were ahead of their respective times. Today, we'll have a look at these mind-boggling performances and see what made them so special.
Zhang Lin, Men’s 800 Freestyle (2009)
Over 15 years later, Zhang’s record of 7:32.12 still stands today. And what's more, no one has truly come close. The record had previously stood at 7:38.65, held by Australian legend Grant Hackett. With a 54.09 final 100 — and, in particular, a 25.99 final 50 — Zhang absolutely blew that record out of the water in the 800 free final at the 2009 Worlds.
And the second fastest man in the history of the men's 800 freestyle was swimming just a few lanes over. Oussama Mellouli threw down a monstrous 7:35.27 and also eclipsed Hackett's mark in the process, yet it was still far from enough to challenge Zhang's otherworldly performance. Mellouli's time would have won gold at every single 800 freestyle competition in history — except this one race.
Within the context of distance racing itself, Zhang's performance also stands out. In comparison to the 400 and 1500 distances, many athletes in history have challenged the 3:40 and 14:30 barriers — but no one has yet to make a big impression on the 7:35 barrier, let alone 7:32. Perhaps this sheds some light on how fast Zhang's world record is compared to the other mid- to long-distance world records on the men's side.
The way he split the race is also just as remarkable. He took out his first 400 in 3:46.79 and closed in a blazingly quick 3:45.33. To date, only a handful of swimmers have been 7:37 and 7:38, which is still quite a formidable distance away from Zhang's world record. It's always difficult to predict how long records will last, but as of today, Zhang's record is safe from challengers.
Liu Zige, Women’s 200 Butterfly (2009)
Just like Zhang, Liu's record of 2:01.81 has remained on the books since 2009 — with no one else in history even having broken 2:03. The closest anyone has been to her mark is Summer McIntosh, who turned in a time of 2:03.03 at the Paris Olympics.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Liu set the world record in the 200 fly, winning Olympic gold in her home country in a time of 2:04.18. At the 2009 Worlds, Liu would dip under 2:04, winning silver in a time of 2:03.90 — with gold going to Australia's Jessicah Schipper in a new world record of 2:03.41.
However, three months later, Liu would get the last laugh. At the 2009 Chinese National Games, she absolutely obliterated the record, crushing Schipper's mark by over a second and a half en route to a performance of 2:01.81 — skipping over the 2:02 mark entirely and essentially redefining what people believed was possible in the 200 fly. Her performance was one of the final world records set in the soon-to-be-banned polyurethane bodysuits.
Yet the suit itself takes nothing away from her performance. Although the supersuit era saw a complete rewrite of swimming's record books, only a handful of these supersuited records stand to this day. Just like Zhang's mark, it's the reality that no one has since come close to her performance that makes her performance so admirable.
Though today's fastest swimmers are challenging the 2:03 barrier, it's been nearly 15 years since Liu's performances — and history's next quickest performers are still over a second away from her record.
Katie Ledecky, Women’s 800 & 1500 Freestyle (2016, 2018)
We're talking about the greatest distance swimmer who has ever lived, and one of the greatest swimmers — if not athletes — in history.
Let's just comb through the data really quickly. Ledecky's 800 free world record (8:04.79) is nearly seven seconds faster than the next fastest performer in history, Summer McIntosh. At one point, she held the fastest 25 performances ever in the event, and not only has she four-peated at this event at the Olympics, she's also claimed six world titles as well.
Ledecky's 1500 freestyle record (15:20.48) is even more untouchable. In winning gold in this race in Paris, Ledecky not only broke her own Olympic Record, but also now owns the 20 fastest performances in history in this event. The next fastest performer, Lotte Friis of Denmark, is nearly 20 seconds back (15:38.88). In addition, Ledecky has claimed five world titles in swimming's metric mile, along with an Olympic repeat.
Not only is this a blend of sheer dominance and longevity, but Ledecky has truly done everything to ensure that her distance records will remain untouchable for quite some time.
Ian Thorpe, Men’s 400 Freestyle (2002)
Unlike the other records, this record stood for just about seven years — until it was broken by the smallest margin possible in swimming by Germany's Paul Biedermann in a super suit. Yet Thorpe's time of 3:40.08 was what allowed people to even consider the 3:40 barrier as a possibility — and over two decades on, his performance still ranks as the second-fastest performance in history, by just 1 one-hundredth of a second behind Biedermann.
At the age of just 16, Thorpe smashed the 400 freestyle world record held by Australian distance legend Kieren Perkins by nearly two seconds. Over the course of the next few years, he would take that record down even further — and in the process, he collected two Olympic golds and three world championship titles in the event before his retirement in 2006. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, he eclipsed his own world record and came oh-so-close to the first ever 3:39 in the event — just nine one-hundredths away from the mark.
Thorpe's world record performance would have won every single contested 400 freestyle race in history, except for Biedermann's performance. In fact, he is the only swimmer in history to have clocked sub-3:41 more than twice — he did so five times: 3:40.76, 3:40.59, 3:40.54, 3:40.17, and of course, 3:40.08. In doing so, Thorpe redefined not only what people thought was possible in a 400 freestyle, but also completely revolutionized the way today's top athletes swim the race.
Sarah Sjostrom, Women’s 50 Butterfly (2014)
Sjostrom's dominance in this event has lasted for over a decade: she owns 44 of the 50 fastest performances in history in the one-lap sprint. Her world record is untouchable — so much so that when she set the record, she not only became the first person to break the 25-second barrier, but she obliterated the existing record of 25.07, turning in a time of 24.43.
In fact, no other woman has ever broken the 25-second barrier besides Sjostrom. Sjostrom, meanwhile, has eclipsed the barrier 23 times across the span of her career. She has also never lost the event in major international competition — in 2024, she successfully six-peated in the event at the World Championships and showcased her utter dominance across one lap of butterfly.
Sjostrom has also showcased her versatility across the other sprint events: she most recently took Olympic golds in the 50 and 100 freestyle events in Paris and is a 14-time world champion across the 50 and 100-meter distances for both the freestyle and butterfly sprints. Yet it's her dominance in the 50 butterfly that stands out the most. As of today, no one comes close to what she has achieved in the event — in fact, you can argue that no one in the history of swimming has achieved Sjostrom's level of dominance in the 50 butterfly in any event.
Adam Peaty, Men’s 100 Breaststroke (2019)
Peaty's dominance in the sprint breaststroke discipline is perhaps the greatest that we've ever seen. At just 20 years old, he took over half second off of Cameron van der Burgh's existing 100 breaststroke world record of 58.46, swimming his way to history's first sub-58 performance en route to 57.92.
Over the next few years, Peaty was invincible. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, he took his own world record all the way down to 57.13. The following year, he became the first to ever break 26 seconds in the 50 breaststroke. With these achievements under his belt, he set out for his greatest ambition: Project 56, an attempt to become the first under 57 seconds in the event.
In the semifinals of the 100 breaststroke at the 2019 Worlds, Peaty realized his long-lived goal, turning in a time of 56.88 and decimating the field. And his dominance didn't stop there — leading up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he held the fastest 20 performances ever swum in the event, and he would go on to defend his Olympic title later that year.
In short, Peaty single-handedly took over 1.5 seconds off of the 100 breaststroke world record, becoming the first under 58 and the only in history under 57. The next fastest performer, China's Qin Haiyang, is over eight tenths back in 57.69. If Paris is the last time we see Peaty in international competition, we've been blessed to witness the most dominant era of sprint breaststroke in perhaps all of swimming history.
Final Thoughts
And most recently, at the Paris Olympics, we saw Pan Zhanle's reality-warping 46.40 in the 100 freestyle. It's anyone's guess as to how long this record will last — although Pan has said he has a lot left in the tank.
In the same way Pan realized the impossible, so did all the amazing athletes mentioned on this list. With their names etched in history, they not only dominated the competition in their respective days, but they also unknowingly set benchmarks that remain insurmountable for years — and even decades — to come.
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