Katinka Hosszu Swims 2nd-Fastest 400 IM in History

2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Swimming: August 6-13
• Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
• Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
• SwimSwam previews 
• Day 1 Schedule & Results
• Live Stream (NBC)

Hungarian Katinka Hosszu was 3.25 seconds ahead of the World Record swim going into the freestyle leg of the women’s 400 IM in prelims, and while that wasn’t even enough to hold off Ye Shiwen’s unbelievable freestyle closing leg from London, Hosszu just missed the World Record with the 2nd-fastest time in the history of the event.

Hosszu’s time, which seeds her first for finals by 4 seconds, was 4:28.58. That improves her own best time and Hungarian Record of 4:29.89, but misses Ye’s World Record of 4:28.43.

Comparative Splits:

• Ye 1:02.19, Hosszu 1:01.28
• Ye 1:09.54, Hosszu 1:08.08
• Ye 1:18.02, Hosszu 1:17.14
• Ye 58.68, Hosszu 1:02.07

Historically, Hosszu has been able to finish her 400 IM in better than a 1:01 (though never anywhere near Ye’s 58), and if she is able to go a 1:01 in finals, she’ll have a big shot at the World Record.

Top 10 performances of all-time:

1. Ye Shiwen, 2012, 4:28.43
2. Katinka Hosszu, 2016, 4:28.58
3. Stephanie Rice, 2008, 4:29.45
4. (tie) Kirsty Coventry, 2008, 4:29.89
5. (tie) Katinka Hosszu, 2016, 4:29.89
6. Katinka Hosszu, 2009, 4:30.31
7. Katinka Hosszu, 2015, 4:30.39
8. Katinka Hosszu, 2013, 4:30.41
9. Xuanxu Li, 2009, 4:30.43
10. Katinka Hosszu, 2016, 4:30.75

The World Record in this event has been in three of the last four Olympic Games.