Laure Manaudou from France went 4:03.03.
Here's the stuff from swimmingworldmagazine.com:
TOURS, France. May, 12. IT'S all over. Janet Evans' long-standing mark of 4:03.85 in the 400-meter freestyle is no more after Laure Manaudou's performance of 4:03.03 at the French Championships. Evans' record had stood since 1988.
Since winning three medals at the Athens Olympics, including gold in the 400 free, Manaudou has been viewed as the favorite to take down Evans' standard. Her effort at the French Championships marked her third win of the meet, complementing gold in the 800 free and 400 individual medley.
Her splits:
28.03 58.30 (30.27)
1:28.90 (30.60) 2:00.00 (31.10)
2:30.85 (30.85) 3:02.07 (31.22)
3:33.05 (30.98) 4:03.03 (29.98)
Manaudou challenged the record in the Athens Olympics, but fell off the last 100. As much as I thought it could be broken by 2008, it still shocks me. That was th single greatest race in the history of swimming. Anyone who saw that race on TV, or on video or wherever, knows what I mean.
Former Member
WOW!!! That's impressive. Congrats to Laure Manaudou on a super swim!!
Janet's 400 from Seoul is right up there with Mary T.'s 200 fly from Brown Deer. Those swims were so mind boggling, for a long time few dared to dream about approaching them.
The oldest women's records are the 800 (8:16.22) and 1500 (15:51.10), set in 1989 and 1988 by Janet Evans. Kristina Egerszegi's 200 back record (2:06.62) was set on August 25, 1991. The oldest world record for men is 21.64 in the 50 free by Alexander Popov on June 16, 2000.
Those three women's records have stood the test of time, but I wonder which of the more recent world records will last the longest. Thorpe's 400? Inky's 50 free? Phelps' 200 IM? Hackett's 1500? Liesel Jones' breaststroke records?
With the USMS Nationals going on this week, it's interesting to look back at the oldest USMS records for short course yards. They are:
Women - 25-29 1650 yard freestyle, 17:31.70 by Karen Burton in 1987
Men - 25-29 200 yard breaststroke, 2:03.69 by Doug Soltis on May 22, 1988
~SB~
Yes this is a monumental achievement. Perhaps to elaborate on what Jeff wrote before, in 1988 Seoul Olympics this race was broadcast live at 3 am CST--I set my alarm for it.
Janet went out quick with the East German Anke Möhring racing her for the initial 200, then Heike Freidrich made her move and Friedrich and Evans went tandem over the last 200. They were both even at the 350 turn and then Evans put Friedrich away in a scintillating final 50. Evans negative split the race--breaking her record of a 4:05.45. It was one of the most exciting races I have ever seen--especially since I'm rather certain the East German's sent out Morhing to be the "rabbit".
Cheers to Laure! What an effort. I can't wait to see her and Zeigler or Hoff go at it next year in Melbourne.
Something that is great about Manaudou's swim is that over the past years many French government sports officials did not want to put a lot of funding into swimming. They heavily funded ice skating and tennis. Many programs really fell apart. Now they are putting more funding into the programs, and they are doingbetter.
Swimmign in France is still not very popular. I'm not sure but I think she swims in Grenoble.
One of the things I remember most about Janet from Seoul is a TV interview she did, where she was asked if she was intimidated by the East Germans. Janet said something to the effect of "no, I work just as hard if not harder than they do..." It was really refreshing to see this spry, petite young lady who was so well prepared and seemed to fear nothing. It was one of those legendary Olympic moments.
