{"id":584717,"date":"2024-04-25T09:21:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T16:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=584717"},"modified":"2024-04-30T03:40:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T10:40:05","slug":"lukas-martens-0-26-outside-400-free-world-record-in-340-33-at-german-championships-goes-fourth-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/lukas-martens-0-26-outside-400-free-world-record-in-340-33-at-german-championships-goes-fourth-all-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Lukas M\u00e4rtens Scares 400 Free World Record In 3:40.33 At German Championships; Goes Fourth All-Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lukas M\u00e4rtens 0.26 Outside 400 Free World Record In 3:40.33 At German Championships; Goes Fourth All-Time<\/h4>\n

Lukas M\u00e4rtens<\/strong> was just 0.26secs outside Paul Biedermann’s<\/strong> 400 free world record as he powered to a time of 3:40.33 at the German Championships in Berlin.<\/p>\n

Biedermann went 3:40.07 at the 2009 World Championships<\/strong> in Rome at the height of the supersuit era with M\u00e4rtens moving up to fourth in the all-time rankings – with the sixth-fastest performance – behind his fellow German, Australian great Ian Thorpe<\/strong> (3:40.08) and Sun Yang<\/strong> (3:40.14).<\/p>\n

Splits:<\/strong><\/p>\n

M\u00e4rtens: 52.37; 1:48.59; 2:44.81; 3:40.33<\/p>\n

Biedermann: 54.42; 1:51.02; 2:47.17; 3:40.07<\/p>\n

The effect of the supersuits is plain to see with Biedermann splitting 52.90 (27.13\/25.77) on the final 100 and M\u00e4rtens going 55.52 (28.12\/27.40) with a 2.36sec margin over the WR at 300 and still inside it at the final turn saw him fall just shy.<\/p>\n

All-Time Rankings<\/strong><\/p>\n

3:40.07: Paul Biedermann, 2009 World Championships<\/p>\n

3:40.08: Ian Thorpe, 2002 Commonwealth Games<\/p>\n

3:40.14: Sun Yang, 2012 Olympic Games<\/p>\n

3:40.33: Lukas M\u00e4rtens, 2024 German Championships<\/p>\n

3:40.68: Sam Short, 2023 World Championships<\/p>\n

\"lukas-martens-2021-short-course-world-championships\"

Lukas M\u00e4rtens: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n

It was a huge PB for the European champion whose previous best stood at 3:41.60 from the 2022 Swim Open Stockholm<\/strong> and destroyed his season’s best of 3:42.96 en-route to bronze at the Doha worlds in February behind Kim Woomin<\/strong> (3:42.71) and Elijah Winnington<\/strong> (3:42.86).<\/p>\n

Coached by Bernd Berkhahn<\/strong>, M\u00e4rtens now stands more than a second clear at the top of the 2024 rankings ahead of Winnington (3:41.41) and Sam Short<\/strong> (3:41.64).<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old hoisted himself on to the lane ropes before telling reporters: “What was that?<\/p>\n

“I looked at the scoreboard and thought a 3:42 would be a good time, but a 3:40, that can’t be.”<\/p>\n

M\u00e4rtens – 400 free medallist at the last three World Championships – will find himself in the spotlight in the lead-up to to the Olympics although the Australians are still to hold their trials.<\/p>\n

Of being favourite for gold, he added: “I didn’t expect things to go so well now. But I continue to set my own goals and I do well to keep an eye on them.”<\/p>\n

Following M\u00e4rtens home were Sven Schwarz<\/strong> (3:46.37) and Henning M\u00fchlleitner<\/strong> (3:49.08)<\/p>\n

Joining M\u00e4rtens in Paris on the 400 free will be Oliver Klemet<\/strong> who’d posted 3:42.81 the previous week.<\/p>\n

The Berlin meet is the last chance for swimmers to book their place on the team for Paris 2024<\/strong> with qualification for the European Championships<\/strong> in Belgrade in June and the European juniors in Vilnius, Lithuania, also up for grabs.<\/p>\n