Led by Sam Short, Men’s 800 Freestyle Field in Pursuit of History
The 2026 season has brought renewed hope that super-suited records could finally be consigned to history.
Summer McIntosh harpooned the white whale that was Zige Liu’s 200 fly world record for the last one on the women’s side. David Popovici remains in search of the 200 freestyle mark on the men’s side. The 200 backstroke mark of Aaron Peirsol is getting its first real test in a generation.
The ridiculous 800 free world record of Zhang Lin from the 2009 World Championships, though, remains an echelon above anything the world is capable of at the moment. But the 800 free pack is closing in.
Sam Short won the 800 free on Wednesday night at the Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, Calif. His time was 7:37.02, the sixth-fastest performance in history. He holds three of the top eight, including the national record and textile-best time of 7:36.73 he set in winning gold at the Commonwealth Games in July.
For a race whose top two performances have remained frozen in amber since before the first iPhone was globally available, that constitutes progress.
“It’s gotten really fast over the years,” two-time 800 free Olympic medalist and Wednesday’s silver medalist Bobby Finke said. “Over the years, it’s probably one of the deepest events. All the freestyle guys are pretty tight, and they’re just getting faster, which is good.”
Finke deserves a share of credit, his furious final-100 rallies at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 ushering in changes in how others have had to swim the race. The inclusion in the Olympic program for the first time in Tokyo has also incentivized more swimmers to prioritize what had been a middle ground between the 1,500 and 400 confined only to the World Championships.
At those Tokyo Games, prelims brought a pair of 7:41s and five national records before Finke’s American record of 7:41.87 won gold. That was a mile off of Lin’s record, which seemed then set to spend another decade or more on the wall.
But Finke’s time would’ve been fifth at Worlds in 2022, when he won gold with an American record of 7:39.36. It would’ve been sixth at Worlds in 2023, a race that saw an Oceania record (Short), an American mark (Finke), a European record (Daniel Wiffen) and none of those win thanks to the 7:37.00 from Ahmed Hafnaoui.
The Olympic record progressed to 7:38.19 for Wiffen in Paris. Ahmed Jaouadi of Tunisia pushed the frontier down to 7:36.88 at Worlds in 2025.
The standard is progressing everywhere. Wiffen’s European record was broken first by Sven Schwarz, then by German teen Johannes Liebemann. Wiffen and Florian Wellbrock aren’t done yet, even if their careers might start to shade toward the higher distances.
Short was well aware on Wednesday what his European counterparts had achieved in the morning’s 800 free final in Paris and what times he was chasing.
“It’s been probably the best year I’ve ever put together,” Short said. “I beat the Europeans that swam early today. I was pretty fired up to try and do that. And I’m really excited to race them next year as well.”
Short is at the vanguard of pushing it further. Lin’s time remains a massive leap ahead. But the second-fastest swim in history was the runner-up at that meet, Ous Mellouli, the Tunisian going 7:35.27. That’s next in Short’s crosshairs, and a global reunion of the heads of the distance state next summer at Worlds in Budapest might to the trick.
“I think definitely the second time by Mellouli is very achievable, given the right race,” Short said. “I think if I was right next to the Germans, we could have all pushed each other as well. If I had an invisible wand right there, it’s easier said than done to push yourself in that last 200 when I knew I probably had the win wrapped up. So, given the right circumstance, definitely.”