Paris 2024, Euro Recap: Märtens Doesn’t “Give A Shit” About 400 Free WR Record As He Wins Gold

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
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• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
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Olympic champion Lukas Märtens could care less about the critique that the men’s 400 freestyle final was slow. “A lot of people expected the record to fall — I don’t give a shit, I am on top now,” said the newly-crowned Olympic champion.

In April, Märtens swam a world-leading time of 3:40.33, coming just .26 seconds from Paul Biedermann‘s super-suited world record. It was the fastest swim since 2012 and made Märtens the fourth-fastest performer in history. The 22-year-old hails from the same German state, Saxony-Anhalt, as Biedermann. Earlier this week, the world record holder told the German Press Agency “Lukas has the talent and ambitions and he is one of the few swimmers currently whom I believe can swim under 3:40 minutes. I would be happy if Lukas could undercut the record.”

But Märtens is right: in an Olympic final, it isn’t about the time, it’s about the race. And Märtens made the 400 freestyle final his race. He had the lead at the first turn and never surrendered it. Märtens and Kim Woo-Min were under world record pace at the halfway point, flipping in 1:48.40. Neither could hold off Biedermann’s back half but Märtens withstood the chaos behind him to earn his first Olympic gold in 3:41.78.

“I was right at the front the whole time and still made it to the finish, Märtens said. “That wasn’t the case in the last few years. I let myself be beaten there. Not this time.”

Since his breakout in 2022, Märtens has been a model of consistency in this event, reaching the podium at the last three World Championships. But he’s never stood on top of the podium. In 2022, he held the lead with 50 meters to go but got chased down by Elijah Winnington. He touched in 3:42.85 for silver, while his then-lifetime best 3:41.60 would’ve won gold. He wasn’t able to match Sam Short and Ahmed Hafnaoui in Fukuoka, running 3rd for the majority of that race. And in Doha earlier this year, Winnington again chased Märtens down on the final 50, taking silver while Märtens earned bronze (3:42.96).

Winnington out-split Märtens on the final 50 in today’s Olympic final, 27.33 to 28.25. But this time, Märtens had built up enough of a lead that it didn’t matter. And now, two years after winning his first international gold medal at the 2022 European Championships, he’s climbed to the top of the podium at the World/Olympic level. He earned Germany’s first gold in this event since 1988 when the country was still split.

Märtens highlighted the day for Germany, but the nation had a lot to celebrate. Isabel Gose broke her German record in the women’s 400 freestyle, running down Paige Madden for 5th and swimming 4:02.14. That lowered her record from 4:02.39 from the 2024 World Championships Angelina Köhler moved through to the women’s 100 butterfly final in 4th place. And after Melvin Imoudu won the men’s 100 breaststroke swim-off, Germany will have two men in the final as he joins Lucas Matzerath.

This is the third-straight Worlds/Olympic level meet where the Germans have been the story of the first night for Europe. They usually come out swinging on the first day, but the momentum tends to slow. They’ll be aiming to break that cycle at this meet, starting with their Day 2 finalists. Later in the meet, Märtens has medal hopes in the 200 freestyle and an on-form Florian Wellbrock is a podium threat in the men’s distance races.

Day 1 Quick Hits

• Italy won Europe’s other medal in the pool today, taking bronze in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay. They had a lot of ground to make up after a 48.04 lead-off from Alessandro Miressi, which put the 7th at the first exchange. They jumped into 2nd place after a 47.44 split from Thomas Ceccon and didn’t leave podium position. They were in 3rd at the 300-meter mark after a 48.16 split from Paolo Conte Bonin, and Manuel Frigo anchored in 47.06 to give the Italians bronze in 3:10.70. The performance keeps up their medal streak in this event: since taking silver in Tokyo, they’ve medalled at each World Championships since.
• Adam Peaty posted the first sub-59 second men’s 100 breaststroke of the Games. After a slow prelims field, Peaty took control of the first semifinal and swam 58.86. The time held up as the fastest of the semifinals as Qin Haiyang joined Peaty under 59 seconds, winning the second semi in 58.93. Peaty will have lane 4 as he goes for his third-straight gold medal in the event tomorrow.
• 17-year-old Eva Okaro made history for Great Britain this morning. When she swam in the prelims of the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay, she became the first Black woman to swim for Great Britain at the Olympics in the pool. Okara swam the second leg for the prelims relay, clocking 53.84 to help Great Britain qualify for the final. She improved her split on the finals relay, clocking 53.75 to help the Brits finish in 7th place.

Continental and National Records

• Sarah Sjostrom (52.33), Michelle Coleman (52.98), Sara Junevik (54.41), and Louise Hansson (53.87) combined for a 3:33.79 in the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay to break the Swedish national record. They took down the previous record of 3:33.94 from 2017, the relay where Sjostrom led off with a world record of 51.71. The time is also a Nordic record.
• Roos Vanotterdijk broke her Belgian record in the women’s 100 butterfly. After just missing the mark in prelims, Vanotterdijk threw down a 57.25 in the semifinals, breaking her record of 57.47 from the 2024 European Championships last month.
• Barbora Seemanova reset the Czech record in the women’s 100 butterfly. Seemanova owned the previous record of 57.75 from December 2023. She lowered the mark by .25 seconds, swimming a 57.50 during the prelims of the event. In the semifinals, Seemanova swam 57.64, also under her 2023 record but missed out on the final.

European Medal Table Thru Day 1