3000m world record?

Former Member
Former Member
Forgive me. I tried to find a thread where I could ask this seemingly silly question, but I couldn't find one. I also have trouble finding the answer elsewhere. Obviously this is not an official FINA event. But it does seem to be a popular event. I've seen swim-clubs doing local charity/fundraiser type things around the 3000m swim. I think I will try one soon. Obviously I won't attack the WR/world best, but maybe I can emulate my other distance percentile-levels. I'm guessing the WR is around 30min SC? 31min LC? Thanks in advance if anyone has info on this strange request.
  • No, there's no world record for the 3000m. Best you're probably going to get is the records for the 3000y Postal event USMS has. www.usms.org/.../ldrecords.php
  • Not really, most of the guys I see on there are distance guys or at least mid-distance stroke types. Don't see any names that I recognize that are sprinters.
  • Yeah, most Masters swimmers that compete on a regular basis swim all manner of events.
  • I would guess there are three men right now who could do that: Gregorio Paltrinieri, Florian Wellbrock and Mykalo Romanchuk. The former is the world record holder in the SC 1500m and also an elite open water swimmer. And Grant Hackett probably could have done that in his prime.
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 3 years ago
    No, there's no world record for the 3000m. Best you're probably going to get is the records for the 3000y Postal event USMS has. www.usms.org/.../ldrecords.php Thanks! I notice a couple of 30min times there, which might be 33ish for meters? And these people are sprinter types.
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 3 years ago
    Not really, most of the guys I see on there are distance guys or at least mid-distance stroke types. Don't see any names that I recognize that are sprinters. Yeah, sorry - I clicked on a couple of 30min names, and saw some sprint results, amongst distance results also. Fun sprints? :)
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 3 years ago
    I'm looking at pace per 50m (SC) for WR 400m-800m-1500m, and I'm assuming, based on how the paces change, that 3000m could be at 29.0sec per 50m or faster. (400m - 26.5sec, 800m - 27.7sec, 1500m - 28.3sec) So my rethink is: Somebody out there could do a 29:00 3000m in a 25m pool.
  • If you're an elite athlete training on a 2-year cycle to peak for World Champs and the Olympics, why would you use a rest/taper cycle for something that didn't count for anything whatsoever?
  • Do you have access to the event result database on this site? Most every USMS swim recorded should be in there.
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 3 years ago
    Hmm. I didn't see anything 3000m related. Anyway, I did similar math with LC. I think I am comfortable with 29:00 SC and 29:45 LC as "possible WRs". I'm actually quite surprised that there's not a sub 30min 3000m on the internet somewhere. (Maybe I missed it.) Surely someone who is world class at 1500m might show some interest in this as a special event? (And my 3000m SC goal for this year is 49:09!)