What Are the Oldest American Swimming Records?
Earlier this month, Germany’s Lukas Martens took down the longstanding world record in the 400-meter freestyle. With a time of 3:39.96, Martens lowered the 3:40.07 performance that was set by fellow German Paul Biedermann at the 2009 World Championships. Biedermann’s record was the oldest individual mark on the books and came at the height of the super-suit era, when polyurethane technology led to more than 100 world records between 2008 and 2009.
Biedermann still owns the oldest solo world record in the sport, thanks to his 1:42.00 effort in the 200 freestyle at the 2009 World Champs. That record arrived two days after Biedermann set his global standard in the 400 freestyle.
So, what are the oldest American records? Let’s take a look.
Women
Katie Hoff – 400 Individual Medley (4:31.12 – June 29, 2008)
At the 2008 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Katie Hoff repeated as champion of the 400 IM with a world-record swim. Clocking 4:31.12, Hoff bettered the previous world record of 4:31.46, set by Stephanie Rice a few months earlier at the Australian Olympic Trials. While Hoff’s record was reclaimed by Rice at the Olympic Games in Beijing, the standard has gone untouched in the United States.
Over the past 16-plus years, Maya DiRado has come closest to breaking Hoff’s record. En route to a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, DiRado touched the wall in 4:31.15. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Beisel (4:31.27 in 2012) and Katie Grimes (4:31.41 in 2023) have scared Hoff’s standard, only to come up slightly short.
Grimes is the biggest threat to Hoff’s record, as she is the reigning Olympic silver medalist in the 400 IM and has already come within sniffing distance of the mark. Grimes’ next chance to become the American-record holder in the event should be this summer’s World Championships in Singapore.
Men
Michael Phelps – 400 Individual Medley (4:03.84 – August 10, 2008)
Until France’s Leon Marchand went 4:02.50 at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Michael Phelps’ opening act at the 2008 Olympics stood as the world record in the 400 individual medley. The 4:03.84 produced by Phelps inside the Water Cube, and which was one of a record-breaking eight golds in Beijing, still stands as the American record, and is 1.34 seconds faster than any other American in history.
Phelps first set world and American records in the 400 medley in 2002, at the United States National Championships in Fort Lauderdale. That means he has been the fastest U.S. swimmer in the event for nearly 23 years, and his current record seems safe, with reigning Olympic bronze medalist Carson Foster owning a career best of 4:06.56.
Larsen Jensen – 400 Freestyle (3:42.78 – August 10, 2008)
The American record set by Larsen Jensen at the 2008 Olympics arrived not long after Phelps set his aforementioned world record. En route to a time of 3:42.78, Jensen claimed the bronze medal behind Korea’s Tae-Hwan Park (3:41.86) and China’s Zhang Lin (3:42.44).
Jensen ranks as the No. 15 performer in history, with Peter Vanderkaay as the second-fastest American and at No. 17 all-time. Vanderkaay went 3:43.11 in the same Olympic final as Jensen, placing fourth.
At least in the immediate future, there is no reason to believe Jensen’s record will be broken. Last year, Aaron Shackell posted the fastest time by an American in the 400 freestyle, a swim of 3:45.45, which is more than two seconds off what Jensen produced in Beijing. The biggest hope to break the record might be 15-year-old Luka Mijatovic, a 16-year-old rising star in the distance events.