2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- July 23 to 30, 2023
- Fukuoka, Japan
- Marine Messe Fukuoka
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Entry Book
- Live Results (Omega)
- Day 1 Finals Live Recap
The first event of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships was an absolute stunner, with the top two finishers putting the men’s 400m freestyle World Record on death row.
19-year-old Sam Short of Australia ripped the fastest outing of his career to get to the wall first, unleashing a time of 3:40.68. But right behind him was reigning Olympic gold medalist Ahmed Hafnaoui, with the Tunisian turning in a mark of 3:40.70. Germany’s Lukas Martens rounded out the podium in a result of 3:42.20.
This evening, Short battled Hafnaoui of Indiana the entire way, with the pair under German Paul Biedermann‘s World Record pace through the 350m mark, just as Short was this morning.
Short landed lane 4 for this evening’s final after scorching a heats swim of 3:42.44. That already represented a new lifetime best for the teen, slicing .02 off of his previous PB of 3:42.46 notched at this year’s Australian National Championships.
Short’s monster effort now renders the teen the 4th-fastest performer in history, although he’s still chasing countryman Ian Thorpe‘s national record of 3:40.08 which has been on the books since 2002.
As for Hafnaoui, the 20-year-old established a new African Record with tonight’s performance, overtaking Ous Mellouli’s 3:41.11 logged at the 2009 World Championships.
Top 5 Men’s LCM 400 Freestyle Performers All-Time
- Paul Biedermann (GER), 3:40.07 2009
- Ian Thorpe (AUS), 3:40.08
- Sun Yang (CHN), 2012
- Sam Short (AUS), 3:40.68 2023
- Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 3:40.70
For perspective, it took Hafnaoui a time of 3:43.36 to grab the gold at the 2020 Olympic Games, so the top 3 performers this evening obliterated that threshold to make history.
This evening, Short’s final 50 checked in at 55.19 while his prelim effort clocked 56.46. Hafnaoui nearly caught the Aussie, closing in 55.07 to touch a fingernail behind and fall just .02 outside of gold.
| Short’s 3:40.68 | Hafnaoui’s 3:40.70 | Short’s 3:42.44 Prelim |
| 53.58 | 53.82 | 53.75 |
| 55.71 | 55.68 | 55.82 |
| 56.20 | 56.13 | 56.41 |
| 55.19 | 55.07 | 56.46 |
Short’s incredible performance bodes very well for the Aussie’s gold medal prospects in the 800m and 1500m distances later on here in Fukuoka. He enters these World Championships ranked #2 in the world in the 800m free (7:40.39) and 8th in the 1500m (14:46.47).
Can’t wait to see his 800 now. He dropped 2 seconds in the 400. If he can drop 2 seconds in the 800 that’s a second faster than last year’s gold.
The margin of victory 0.02sec of Short over Hafnaoui was the smallest in the history of the 400m freestyle at World Championships, the previous record having dated back to 1982, when Vladimir Salnikov pipped Svyatoaslav Semenov by 0.13sec.
I’m expecting 1-2 in the 800 too with these 2, with Finke not quite getting there.
I hadn’t even considered Hafnaoui in the hunt for a medal in the 800 (I was all in on the Euro distance stars and Finke to make up the podium, with the hope and possiblity that Short would join 2 of the 3 mentioned) before this 400, but hell yeah Hafnaoui and Short are a genuine prospect after this 400. So stoked to see these 2 young athletes pushing each other to amazing swims.
Excited for the future of this event finally may see the first sub 3:40 within the next year Hafnaoui is in a position to defend his Olympic gold and short could also win it too really excited for this one.
Also curious what Hafnaoui does when he gets back to Indiana in the hall
I am now a fair bit more confident about my Short prediction for the 800.
Hafnaoui is a threat as well.
3rd and 4th clean athletes
Marchand should try the 400FR someday in this type of competition. He’s as good a candidate as any to go under 3:40
I don’t agree, he isn’t on the same level in 200-400 free as in IMs
He’s definitively not.
A) we’ve seen his 200 free, and it’s nowhere near as good as his Brst or Fly.
B) he came home tonight in a 58. These guys finished in 55.0 and 55.1.
I would rather see him swimming the 100 breast/200 back. Those fields look much easier for him to exploit.
That’s what everyone said to Phelps.
And Phelps obliged.
In 2005, he trained for 400 free. Didn’t even swim 200 fly and 400 IM in Montreal because he wanted to give more focus on 400 free.
The result wasn’t pretty.
Energy distribution for 400 free is completely different than 400 IM
That’s why swimmers like Summer McIntosh is special.
This was an absolute nail biter