A Look At the Men’s United States Records Ranked By Age; Michael Phelps, Larsen Jensen Tied at Top

Former swimmer Michael Phelps greets Leon Marchand of Franceat the end of the 400m Individual Medley Men Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 23rd, 2023. Leon Marchand placed first winning the gold medal with a new world record.

A Look At the Men’s United States Records Ranked By Age; Michael Phelps, Larsen Jensen Tied at Top

A few days ago, Swimming World ran a list of the United States women’s records, ranked by age. The impetus for the piece was Kate Douglass‘ record-breaking performance in the 200-meter breaststroke during the TYR Pro Series stop in Knoxville. Now, it’s time for a look at the men’s U.S. records, ranked by age. Interestingly, six marks are more than a decade old, with three standards holding from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Michael Phelps (400 IM) and Larsen Jensen (400 freestyle) are tied atop the list, as their respective records were registered on August 10, 2008. Phelps’ performance of 4:03.84 stood as the world record in the 400 medley until last summer, when Frenchman Leon Marchand broke it en route to gold at the World Championships. Phelps’ national record in the 200 freestyle is also from the Beijing Games, produced on August 12.

Caeleb Dressel owns the most U.S. records at four – 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 50 butterfly and 100 butterfly.

Here’s a look at the American records by age.

American Records (LC) Ranked By Age

400 Medley – Michael Phelps (4:03.84) – August 10, 2008
400 Freestyle – Larsen Jensen (3:42.78) – August 10, 2008
200 Freestyle – Michael Phelps (1:42.96) – August 12, 2008
200 Butterfly – Michael Phelps (1:51.51) – July 29, 2009
200 Backstroke – Aaron Peirsol (1:51.92) – July 31, 2009
200 Medley – Ryan Lochte (1:54.00) – July 28, 2011
200 Breaststroke – Josh Prenot (2:07.17) – June 30, 2016
100 Backstroke – Ryan Murphy (51.85) – August 13, 2016
50 Butterfly – Caeleb Dressel (22.35) – July 22, 2019
100 Freestyle – Caeleb Dressel (46.96) – July 25, 2019
50 Freestyle – Caeleb Dressel (21.04) – July 27, 2019
100 Breaststroke – Michael Andrew (58.14) – June 13, 2021
100 Butterfly – Caeleb Dressel (49.45) – July 31, 2021
50 Backstroke – Hunter Armstrong (23.71) – April 28, 2022
50 Breaststroke – Nic Fink (26.45) – June 21, 2022
800 Freestyle – Bobby Finke (7:38.67) – July 26, 2023
1500 Freestyle – Bobby Finke (14:31.59) – July 30, 2023

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