Olympic champion Lukas Maertens of Germany on Saturday broke the men's 400-metre freestyle world record dating back to 2009 at the Stockholm Open.
The 23-year-old clocked 3min 39.96sec to shave 0.11sec off the mark achieved by fellow German Paul Biedermann at the world championships in Rome in July 2009.
🚨🚨🚨 ALERTA DE RECORDE MUNDIAL 🚨🚨🚨
— Surto Olímpico (@SurtoOlimpico) April 12, 2025
Lukas Märtens 🇩🇪 faz história e quebra o recorde mundial dos 400m livres com a marca de 3:39.96
O recorde anterior era um dos últimos que restavam da era dos trajes tecnológicos. Pertencia a Paul Biedermann 🇩🇪, do Mundial de 2009 pic.twitter.com/dq8yGnd4Mk
Biedermann's mark of 3:40.07 was achieved wearing a polyurethane swimsuit that has since been banned in competition.
Maertens, who won Olympic gold over the distance in Paris last year in 3:41.78, had until now a personal best time of 3:40.33 in the 400m freestyle, achieved at the 2024 German championships.