Guilherme Costa Hits 400 Freestyle South America Record During Prelims – 3:44.52

2022 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• June 18-25, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Duna Arena
• LCM (50-meter format)
• Full Aquatics Schedule
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheets
• Start Lists Book (pre-meet)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Pick ’em Contest

During the first day of prelims at the 2022 World Swimming Championships, Brazil’s Guilherme Costa broke the South American record in the 400 freestyle with a 3:44.52. That swim lowers the mark by more than a second, improving upon his own continental and national record of 3:45.85. Costa swam that former time of 3:45.85 in April 2021 at the Brazilian Olympic Selection Trials.

Split Comparison:

Costa’s swim came during heat 4 of 5 in this event and his time was the third best both within that heat and in the whole field. He will advance into the 400 freestyle finals in 3rd place behind Austria’s Felix Auboeck (3:43.83) and Australia’s Elijah Winnington (3:44.42).

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Felix Auboeck (AUT) – 3:43.83
2. Elijah Winnington (AUS) – 3:44.42
3. Guilherme Costa (BRA) – 3:44.52
4. Lukas Martens (GER) – 3:45.04
5. Kieran Smith (USA) – 3:45.70
6. Woomin Kim (KOR) – 3:45.87
7. Trey Freeman (USA) – 3:46.12
8. Marco de Tullio (ITA) – 3:46.47

That means that assuming he swims the final and doesn’t DQ, Costa will improve upon his result from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in this event. There, Costa placed 11th overall in the race with a 3:45.99 in heats to miss out on finals.

Costa has represented Brazil a number of times over the past few years and has made his way onto the podium multiple times as well. At the 2019 Pan American Games Costa won gold in the 1500 with a 15:09.93. He also won 400 free gold and 1500 free silver at the 2018 South American Games, along with a 400 freestyles silver at the 2019 Military Games.

Costa raced at the 2019 World Championships for Brazil, finishing 21st in the 800 freestyle with a 7:58.67 and 25th in the 1500 freestyle with a 15:20.73. He holds the Brazilian and South American records in the 400 (3:45.85), 800 (7:46.09), and 1500 (14:55.49) freestyles.

In addition to the 400 freestyle, Costa is expected to race those other two distance events, the 800 and 1500 freestyle, at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.