2022 STOCKHOLM OPEN
- April 9 to 12, 2022
- Erikdalsbadet, Sweden
- Long Course Meters (50 m)
- Live Results
Germany’s Lukas Märtens put an exclamation point on his standout performance at the 2022 Stockholm Open Tuesday night in Sweden, flying to a new National Record in the men’s 800 freestyle.
Facing off against an elite field that included three of the 11-fastest swimmers in history, Märtens opened up an early lead at the halfway mark before upping his pace coming home, ultimately negative-splitting his way to a final time of 7:41.43.
The swim for the 20-year-old breaks the German Record of 7:41.77, set at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games by Florian Wellbrock, and makes him the 10th-fastest swimmer in the history of the event.
Märtens also dropped more than 12 seconds from his previous best time, having been 7:53.78 last month on the way to his breakout 14:40.28 swim in the 1500 free.
SPLIT COMPARISON
| Wellbrock, Previous GER Record | Märtens, New GER Record |
| 27.18 | 26.62 |
| 56.16 (28.98) | 55.41 (29.18) |
| 1:25.29 (29.13) | 1:24.90 (29.49) |
| 1:54.44 (29.15) | 1:54.38 (29.48) |
| 2:23.37 (28.93) | 2:23.64 (29.26) |
| 2:52.51 (29.14) | 2:53.01 (29.37) |
| 3:21.64 (29.13) | 3:22.44 (29.43) |
| 3:50.98 (29.34) | 3:51.98 (29.54) |
| 4:20.07 (29.09) | 4:21.16 (29.18) |
| 4:49.08 (29.01) | 4:50.51 (29.35) |
| 5:18.22 (29.14) | 5:19.87 (29.36) |
| 5:47.22 (29.00) | 5:48.80 (28.93) |
| 6:16.42 (29.20) | 6:17.78 (28.98) |
| 6:45.50 (29.08) | 6:46.18 (28.40) |
| 7:14.30 (28.80) | 7:14.47 (28.29) |
| 7:41.77 (27.47) | 7:41.43 (26.96) |
In the all-time rankings, Märtens joins a group of six others who have been as fast as 7:41-something in their career, with only six men in history having dipped below the 7:40-threshold.
Märtens was also more than four-tenths quicker than the time American Bobby Finke produced en route to winning the inaugural Olympic gold medal in the event last summer.
All-Time Performers, Men’s 800 Freestyle (LCM)
| Rank | Swimmer | Time | Meet |
| 1 | Zhang Lin (CHN) | 7:32.12 | 2009 World Championships – Rome, Italy |
| 2 | Oussama Mellouli (TUN) | 7:35.27 | 2009 World Championships – Rome, Italy |
| 3 | Sun Yang (CHN) | 7:38.57 | 2011 World Championships – Shanghai, China |
| 4 | Grant Hackett (AUS) | 7:38.65 | 2005 World Championships – Montreal, Canada |
| 5 | Ian Thorpe (AUS) | 7:39.16 | 2001 World Championships – Fukuoka, Japan |
| 6 | Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) | 7:39.27 | 2019 World Championships – Gwangju, South Korea |
| 7 | Gabriele Detti (ITA) | 7:40.77 | 2017 World Championships – Budapest, Hungary |
| T-8 | Henrik Christiansen (NOR) | 7:41.28 | 2019 World Championships – Gwangju, South Korea |
| T-8 | Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) | 7:41.28 | 2021 Olympic Games – Tokyo, Japan |
| 10 | Lukas Märtens (GER) | 7:41.43 | 2022 Stockholm Open – Stockholm, Sweden |
| 11 | Wojciech Wojdak (POL) | 7:41.73 | 2017 World Championships – Budapest, Hungary |
| 12 | Florian Wellbrock (GER) | 7:41.77 | 2021 Olympic Games – Tokyo, Japan |
| 13 | Ryan Cochrane (CAN) | 7:41.86 | 2011 World Championships – Shanghai, China |
| 14 | Bobby Finke (USA) | 7:41.87 | 2021 Olympic Games – Tokyo, Japan |
| 15 | David Aubry (FRA) | 7:42.08 | 2019 World Championships – Gwangju, South Korea |
In the race on Tuesday, Wellbrock nearly matched Märtens’ split on the back-half, as he pulled away from Austrian Felix Auboeck to finish second in 7:43.10.
The 400 splits for Märtens and Wellbrock were as follows:
- Märtens – 3:51.98 / 3:49.45 = 7:41.43
- Wellbrock – 3:53.42 / 3:49.68 = 7:43.10
Auboeck took third in 7:45.32, as those three men now sit 1-2-3 in the 2021-22 world rankings.
2021-2022 LCM Men 800 Free
Finke
7:39.36 AM
| 2 | Florian Wellbrock | GER | 7:39.63 | 06/21 |
| 3 | Mykhailo Romanchuk | UKR | 7:40.05 | 06/21 |
| 4 | Gregorio Paltrinieri | ITA | 7:40.86 | 08/13 |
| 5 | Lukas Martens | GER | 7:41.43 | 04/12 |
Märtens has been absolutely on fire over the last month and has now positioned himself as a legitimate gold medal threat in four different events at the upcoming World Championships.
In addition to today’s 800 free and his 1500 swim from last month, the 2021 Olympian also leads the 2021-22 world rankings in the 200 free (1:45.44) and 400 free (3:41.60), with the latter making him the eighth-fastest performer of all-time.
Thorpe vs Hackett Fukuoka 2001 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8LJbYSDKT8
What are the chances of him swimming the 200/400/800/1500 at the WC’s? I think he’ll drop the 200 as it’s his ‘weakest’ event with ‘only’ a 1.45.20. Many will disagree, but I think it would be better if we didn’t have the 800FS at the WC’s or Olympics. Look at the all-time top 20 lists in the 400/800 and 800/1500 and you will see huge overlaps. If there was no 800 cluttering the program I’m sure he would do the 200/400/1500 and it would give him a better opportunity to showcase his immense range.
Winning medals are more important than showing range, especially when he hasn’t had one yet.
we may get a 14:20 1500freestyle before getting a 7:31 800free.
Zhang Lin’s WR will stay until the cold death of the universe.
Yeah for some reason people tend to forget just how insane Zhang’s WR is. The fastest textile time of all time is *6.45 seconds* slower than it, and the Olympic Gold Medal-winning time in Tokyo was 9.75 seconds slower.
Thorpe did the 800 free one year for the banter because FINA finally decided to add it to Worlds, pops third fastest textile time lmao
Wow, he even looks like Katie Ledecky.
Saw someone say something about Märtens also having an insane 2 back, is that true? 😭
He has a PB of 1:56.97, I’d say that’s solid but not insane
Sorry for Sven Schwarz, swimming 7:46,65 in Berlin last Saturday – so unfortunately no World Championships for him…