2024 Olympic Previews: Despite Glaring Absences, Men’s 800 Free Remains Loaded

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Schedule
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By The Numbers — Men’s 800 Freestyle

• • World Record: 7:32.12 — Zhang Lin, China (2009)
  • World Junior Record: 7:43.37 — Lorenzo Galossi, Italy (2022)
  • Olympic Record: 7:41.28 — Mykhailo Romanchuk, Ukraine (2021)
  • 2020 Olympic Champion: Bobby Finke, United States — 7:41.87

In the conversation about the resurgence of men’s distance swimming, the 1500 freestyle has taken center stage. And with good reason — for the last two World Championships, we’ve had swimmers take serious runs at Sun Yang’s world record. But after the electric 800 free final at the 2023 World Championships—where 2nd through 5th had record-setting swims—it’s time to give a little respect to the 800 freestyle.

And just in time too, as Paris will be just the second Olympic edition of the race and has all the right ingredients to match the 2023 Worlds final’s intensity.

Sam Short, Australia — Oceanian Record Holder

• #4 All-Time performer, 7:37.76 (2023)
• Oceanian record holder
• 2023 Worlds silver medalist

Sam Short, photo credit Marcus Chen Photography

In the absence of 2023 world champion Ahmed Hafnaoui, it’s Sam Short who owns the fastest personal best in the field. At the 2023 World Championships, Short got the better of Hafnaoui on the first night of competition, winning the 400 freestyle by two one-hundredths of a second. Hafnoaui struck back in the 800 freestyle, winning the world title by 0.76. Short took silver in 7:37.76, breaking Grant Hackett’s legendary Oceanian Record (7:38.65) which had stood since 2005.

Reflecting on his Worlds on the SwimSwam Podcast, Short said “I feel my stroke and my tolerance for how much pain I can really handle, I can really fit the 800, it’s like my sweet spot.”

He also shared that given how stacked the final was, he wanted to use his 400 free skills and “use his speed” in the opening half of the race. Short, Hafnaoui, and Lukas Märtens were all out in 3:47-low, making the race hard for those using a back-half strategy. It worked out for Short, so look for him to employ similar tactics this year.

Short was ill at the Australian Olympic Trials and swam 7:46.52. He’s been faster than that effort this season, clocking 7:43.98 at the Australian Open. With time for him to recover between Australia’s Olympic Trials in early June and the start of the Games, there’s been no indication the illness will affect his performance in Paris.

Bobby Finke, United States — Defending Olympic Champion

• #7 All-Time performer, 7:38.67 (2023)
• American record holder
• 2021 Olympic Champion
• 2022 World Champion, 2023 Worlds bronze medalist

If you’re looking for the main person Short is trying to fend off with his opening speed strategy, you don’t need to look any further. Three years ago, Finke burst onto the senior international scene, shocking the established distance stars by running them down in the closing 100 meters not once but twice. He walked away from Tokyo a double Olympic champion in the 800 and 1500 free—now he’s back to defend his crowns.

Bobby Finke (photo: Jack Spitser)

At the 2022 Worlds, Gregorio Paltrinieri was able to get the better of Finke in the 1500 free, but Finke added an 800 free world championship to his resume. It took until Fukuoka for Finke to get beaten in this event on the international scene, but that race was hardly a disappointment for him. His bronze medal winning time of 7:38.67 broke his own American record and ranks him 7th fastest all-time.

Still, Finke won’t be aiming for a bronze medal in Paris.

Just because swimmers like Short, Hafnaoui, and Paltrinieri have figured out how to answer Finke’s closing speed doesn’t mean he’ll change his strategy. It’s what works for him. It even worked in this race in Fukuoka; he’d let Hafnaoui and Short get too far away but his 26.79 final 50 still moved him from 4th onto the podium. Whether he’s developed enough easy speed to be able to keep the gap small enough to chase down, only time will tell.

He qualified for his second Olympics with ease, holding off a charge from the young gun Luke Whitlock and winning at U.S. Trials in 7:44.22. But like the last two years, Finke hasn’t needed to show all his cards this season.

Daniel Wiffen, Ireland — Reigning World Champion

• #9 All-Time performer, 7:39.19 (2023)
• European record holder
• 2024 World Champion
• SCM World Record holder, 7:20.46 (2023)

Daniel Wiffen (Photo by Patrick B. Kraemer / MAGICPBK)

In two historic distance finals at the 2023 World Championships, Daniel Wiffen was locked out of the podium twice, finishing 4th in both the 800 and 1500 free. In the former, he had a big final 50, splitting 26.70—second in the field only to Hafnaoui’s 26.24—to pass Märtens for 4th. Wiffen cut about five seconds off his personal best, swimming 7:39.19 and breaking Paltrinieri’s European record.

Less than a year later though, he got his chance to stand on the podium, winning both races at the Doha Worlds. His 800 free gold was the first medal for Ireland at a non-para swimming World Championships and his winning time (7:40.94) is still the fastest in the world this season.

It added to an impressive winter for Wiffen. In December at the SCM European Championships, he took down Hackett’s SCM 800 free world record by nearly three seconds, which was the oldest SCM world record on the books.

He’ll be hoping to use his performance in Doha and Bucharest as a launching pad towards getting on his first Olympic podium. And in a stacked field like this one, it will surely take well under a 7:40 to win. Wiffen’s only been under that mark once, but approaching the barrier earlier in the season will bring him confidence heading into his second Olympic Games.

Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy — Italian Record Holder

• #10 All-Time Performer, 7:39.27 (2019)
• Italian record holder
• 2021 Olympic silver medalist, 2019 World Champion

A veteran in this field, Gregorio Paltrinieri, 29, has a long resume in the men’s distance events. Specifically in the 800 freestyle, he’s the Tokyo silver medalist and had a streak of World Championship podiums from 2015 to 2019.

Gregorio Paltrinieri, credit Fabio Cetti

After finishing just off the podium in 4th place in 2022, Paltrinieri followed up with a distant 8th place finish in 2023 (7:53.68), adding significant time from his prelims effort. Prior to the start of the 2023 Worlds, Paltrinieri shared that he missed weeks of training due to physical problems and that he tried to get back into shape just before Worlds. After the 800 free, he scratched the 1500 free and returned to Italy to recover, saying “it was a struggle from the first 50, I jumped in already tired. Too bad, I knew about the problems but I didn’t think I’d pay so much for yesterday’s effort.”

Paltrinieri has looked back on form this year; he got back on the podium in Doha, winning bronze in 7:42.98—his fastest time since the 2022 European Championships.

Paltrinieri has only broken 7:40 once in his career and given the speed that’s suddenly been injected into this race, he’ll need to be way under that barrier to make the podium. His biggest successes in Paris should come in the 1500 free and open water, but matching his performance from Doha would land him squarely back in the final.

Mykhailo Romanchuk, Ukraine — Olympic Record Holder 

• #13 All-Time performer, 7:40.05 (2022)
• Ukrainian record holder
• 2021 Olympic bronze medalist, 2022 Worlds bronze medalist

MyKhailo Romanchuk (photo: Jack Spitser)

While he hasn’t been around as long as Paltrinieri, Mykhailo Romanchuk is another one of the faces we’ve seen regularly in the men’s distance events for the better part of the last decade. In the Tokyo Olympic prelims, Romanchuk set an Olympic record of 7:41.28, which held up through the first Olympic men’s 800 freestyle. Finke took gold in 7:41.87, while Romancuk earned bronze in 7:42.33.

Despite his large medal collection from the European Championships, that bronze marked Romanchuk’s first 800 free podium at the Olympic/Worlds level (he’s been a more consistent medal threat in the 1500 free). At the 2022 Worlds, Romanchuk was first at the final turn, two swimmers snuck past him again but he took bronze in a personal best of 7:40.05.

Romanchuk was unable to get in on the action in Fukuoka, he ran 6th for the majority of the race and that’s where he finished (7:43.08). In 2023-24, his season best is 7:46.20 from Euros. Like Paltrinieri, it’s easier to see him being a factor in the 1500 freestyle this year. While he could return to the final, he’ll need a big best time to defend (or improve) his Olympic medal.

Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia — 2023 World Champion

• #3 All-Time performer, 7:37.00 (2023)
• 2023 World Champion

It was only confirmed with the official release of the entry lists on Friday, but Ahmed Hafnaoui won’t be racing at the Olympics.

The absence of the Tunisian is a major blow to the 800 free in Paris, as the 2023 world champion is the fastest active swimmer and ranks #3 all-time with the 7:37.00 performance he threw down last year in Fukuoka.

Lukas Märtens, Germany — German Record Holder

• #11 All-Time performer, 7:39.49 (2023)
• German record holder
• 2022 Euros silver medalist

Another major name missing from this event will be Märtens, who led for the first 300 of the 2023 Worlds final and ended up breaking Florian Wellbrock‘s German Record in 7:39.49.

Instead, it will be Wellbrock representing Germany in this event—along with Sven Schwarz—while Märtens focuses on the 200 free, 400 free and 200 back.

Wellbrock is better suited to the 1500 and the open water 10km (where’s the defending Olympic champion), but still has some 800 free pedigree as the 2022 World Championship silver medalist. He set his lifetime best of 7:39.63 in that swim, and his fastest time over the last 15 months come in at 7:42.99 from April 2023. At the 2023 Worlds, he narrowly missed a spot in the final in 9th (7:45.87).

Potential Upsets

This is a stacked field and the depth doesn’t stop with the six swimmers ranked in the all-time top 15. There are legitimate contenders hoping to make their mark in this race and there are enough of them that it’s going to be an absolute battle to make it into the final. In 2023 we saw Wellbrock miss the cut and we could see another big name left out of the action this year.

Elijah Winnington (photo: Jack Spitser)

Elijah Winnington turned heads in Doha, earning the silver medal .03 seconds ahead of Paltrinieri. Winnington sped to a new personal best of 7:42.95, a 2.35-second drop from his 2022 PB. He then backed it up with a 7:43.08 at the Australian Open and a 7:44.90 at the Australian Trials. Those three swims are the fastest of his career and solidify him as a finals threat in this race—maybe a podium threat if he’s got another big drop in him.

There’s also Sven Schwarz to keep an eye on. The German men’s distance scene is cutthroat, but Schwarz—who finished 4th at the 2024 Worlds—caught a break when Klemet dropped this race to focus on open water. With a personal best of 7:41.77, he’s certainly a finals threat as well and will be looking to make the most of this opportunity at his first Olympics.

He’s flown under the radar a bit in this distance, but Guilherme Costa has been a consistent finals factor since Tokyo. He’s made the Olympic, 2022 Worlds, and 2023 Worlds finals. In 2022, he swam a South American record of 7:45.48, which he neared in 2023 with a 7:45.80 in prelims. That was the 8th place prelims swim in 2023, which signals the kind of time swimmers will have to produce in the Paris prelims. 11 swimmers have already been faster than that time this season.

Guilherme Costa (photo: Jack Spitser)

Kristof Rásovszky (7:44.42), Ahmed Jaouadi (7:45.31), and Luca De Tullio (7:45.80) have all popped impressive lifetime bests this spring. All three are under or right on Costa’s 8th place time from the 2023 Worlds prelims, throwing their names into consideration for the final. Jaouadi was our dark horse pick in the 400 freestyle, but he seems to get better as the race gets longer. His 7:45.31 from the French Elite Championships was a six-second drop. If he’s got another big drop in store for Paris, he could enter the medal conversation in a hurry.

Finally, South Korea’s Kim Woo-min has been having a breakout season. He’s entered in the 200/400/800/1500 freestyle at these Games, which projects as a very busy schedule. At both the 2023 and 2024 Worlds, Kim scratched out of this race. But given his 7:46.03 PB at Asian Games and his breakthroughs in the 400 freestyle it’s hard not to wonder what he could throw down in Paris if he chooses to race.

The Verdict

The 800 free projects to be one of the best races of the Olympic Games on the men’s side. Even without Hafnaoui, when the finalists step up to the block there’s a legitimate case that at least half of the field has an argument for Olympic gold. And if you’re trying to pick a top eight it gets even more difficult as there are at least 10 swimmers in the hunt to unseat the swimmers ranked in the top 15 all-time.

Whatever the makeup of your final looks like, there’s one thing that we can all agree on: this kind of field is swimming at its best. If you weren’t already on board the distance swimming renaissance train it’s time to hop on and join us in praying there will be no ad breaks during the race, because this could be one for the history books.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: Luke Whitlock, United States — In the men’s 400 free preview, our dark horse pick was Jaouadi. The storyline to follow there is whether lightning can strike twice for Tunisia in that event and Jaouadi can surprise the field for another gold medal. We’re keeping with that theme in the 800 free and taking Luke Whitlock as the dark horse. Whitlock has had ann incredible spring: he’s swum two PBs in this event alone, dropping to a 7:45.19 and qualifying for his first Olympic team as a teen. Most interestingly, he outsplit Finke on the closing 50 in Indianapolis, making up ground on the reigning champion. Finke will clearly be faster in Paris, but that was a gutsy swim from Whitlock and gave us a glimpse of what he can do. If he’s able to sneak into the final, he could provide a huge upset.