400 Meter Freestyle Swimming Information

A common swimming race is the 400-meter freestyle, which can be found in any swim meet from high school to the Olympics. It can be swum both as an individual race and as a relay of four members.

  1. Distance

    • The 400-meter freestyle race is eight lengths of an Olympic-sized (long course) 50-meter swimming pool. In a smaller 25-meter (short course) swimming pool, the 400-meter freestyle will be 16 lengths.

    Competitions

    • Although the 400-meter freestyle is a middle-distance length for competitive swimmers, many high school athletes will find that it is the longest individual distance offered in their swim meets.

    World Records

    • As of August 2009, the individual world record in the men's long course 400-meter freestyle is 3 minutes 40.07 seconds, swum by Paul Biedermann. For women, the world record is held by Federica Pellegrini, at 3 minutes 59.15 seconds.

    Famous Ties

    • Some of the all-time best swimmers in the 400-meter freestyle event are Ian Thorpe, Tim Shaw, Mark Spitz, Federica Pellegrini, Debbie Meyer and Ragnhild Hveger.

    Relay

    • Besides the individual race, there is also a 400-meter freestyle relay event, in which four swimmers each swim 100 meters of freestyle.