{"id":576219,"date":"2024-01-19T07:16:52","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T14:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=576219"},"modified":"2024-01-19T07:16:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T14:16:52","slug":"mens-1500-freestyle-world-record-under-serious-threat-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mens-1500-freestyle-world-record-under-serious-threat-this-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Men\u2019s 1500 Freestyle World Record Under Serious Threat This Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Men\u2019s 1500 Freestyle World Record Under Serious Threat This Year<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of the nine fastest men ever in the 1500 freestyle, seven posted their best times within the last two years. At the end of 2019, only two men had ever broken 14:35 in the event; now, that number is seven, with four doing so last year alone. But to understand the full scope of the distance freestyle speed we are seeing now, we have to go back to the world record that was years ahead of its time.<\/p>\n

At the 2001 World Championships, Grant Hackett<\/strong> annihilated the previous 30-lap record, swimming a time of 14:34.56 to beat the previous time set by fellow Australian Kieran Perkins<\/strong> by seven seconds. Hackett would go on to win two more world titles in the event as well as Olympic gold in 2004, but he would never come close to that time again.<\/p>\n

Hackett would not break 14:40 again until the prelims at the 2008 Olympics (before swimming slower in the final and settling for silver), and no one else cracked 14:40 until the polyurethane suit era of 2009. But this 14:34 was so strong that it was the only men\u2019s record to not be broken in 2008 and\/or 2009.<\/p>\n

But thanks to Sun<\/strong> Yang<\/strong>, it didn\u2019t last much longer. The Chinese distance star first broke the record in winning a world title in 2011, clocking 14:34.14, and one year later, he touched in 14:31.04 for Olympic gold.<\/p>\n

Sun would be the world\u2019s dominant 1500 swimmer until 2015, when he won world titles in the 400 and 800 free but did not show up for the 1500 final at the World Championships under mysterious circumstances. That opened the door for Italy\u2019s Gregorio Paltrinieri<\/strong> to become the new top man in the 1500, and the next year, he passed Hackett for No. 2 all-time in the event by swimming a time of 14:34.04 at the European Championships. Another 14:34 a few months later helped Paltrinieri mint Olympic gold.<\/p>\n

\"Gregorio

Gregorio Paltrinieri — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n

The next few years brought something of a 1500 freestyle seesaw, with Paltrinieri providing the standout swims amid other periods of struggle:<\/p>\n