Of the 40 occasions in which the four-minute barrier has been cracked in the women’s 400-meter freestyle, three women have accounted for 39 of the performances. American star Katie Ledecky has pulled off the feat 26 times, with Aussie standout Ariarne Titmus owning nine such efforts. Four sub-4:00 performances belong to Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh, the world-record holder at 3:56.08.

Because all three of these women will be at the World Championships and clash in the 400 freestyle, it’s not surprising the event has been considerably hyped. The matchup has been labeled as the latest iteration of the Race of the Century, the moniker used for a handful of special showdowns in sports history. In the pool, the last Race of the Century was the 2004 Olympic final in the 200 freestyle, an event which featured Ian Thorpe, Pieter van den Hoogenband and Michael Phelps.

For a moment, though, we’re going to look at the 400 freestyle with a wider lens. Although the aforementioned triumvirate is heavily favored to sweep the podium, there are some other candidates to join the sub-four club. And if a perfect evening of racing unfolds, it’s possible that more than half the field clocks 3:59 or faster.

 

One year ago, Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands secured the world title in the 10-kilometer swim by just a half-second over Germany’s Leonie Beck. This year, Beck exploded on the sixth and final lap of the course and opened a gap over her competition. From there, she would not be denied a trip to the gold-medal podium.

Beck allowed the pack to lead early on, and she fell as far as 17.2 seconds off the lead during the fourth of six laps in the race. But she steadily closed the gap, moving into the top 10 at the start of the final lap before taking over down the stretch. Beck finished in 2:02.34.0 to secure gold.

“I’m really grateful, really happy with the race. I thought I could manage the first half to save a bit of energy. The last half, I was fighting for my life. It was really hard for me, and I think this day, it’s really a good day for me,” Beck said.

“I tried to stay calm in the beginning, not to lose the pack but not to swim too fast. I was always somewhere in the top-20 I guess, and then the last lap, I was fourth, but I thought, ‘Wow, it’s getting really hard,’ and I was exhausted. But I didn’t stop fighting. I fought so much. I never stopped. At one point, I caught them, and the last 400 meters, I think I was a bit on the right. I didn’t recognize that I was passing them, but I didn’t watch. I was just swimming and fighting to the end.”

Chalmers now won’t swim the 100m butterfly, replaced by Shaun Champion, while O’Callaghan has relinquished her 100m backstroke spot to 2015 silver medallist Madi Wilson, who turns the clock back with her only individual race.

Both Chalmers, second to US great Caeleb Dressel in the 100m freestyle at the 2019 Championships in Gwangju and defending champion O’Callaghan are among the favourites for their respective 100m freestyle events – a double that has only been achieved once by Australian swimmers in 2013 in Barcelona by Magnussen and Cate Campbell.

Magnussen went back-to-back in the 100m freestyle in 2011 and 2013 while Jodie Henry (2005), Libby Trickett (2007), Cate Campbell (2013), her sister Bronte Campbell (2015) and O’Callaghan (2022) have all greeted the judge in the women’s event.

As athletes prepare for Sunday’s start of the swimming competition at the World Championships in Fukuoka, the United States has selected its team captains. Not surprisingly, veteran leadership is the defining characteristic of the athletes selected. Abbey Weitzeil and Leah Smith were chosen as the women’s captains while Nic Fink and Ryan Murphy were picked as men’s captains.

The Team USA roster features a mix of experience and youth, and the four captains will be charged with fostering a positive team atmosphere and ensuring the United States carries itself admirably on the world stage. With the captains owning considerable experience from the Olympic Games and past World Championships, they’ll have the opportunity to impart wisdom and advice on younger swimmers.

Weitzeil is scheduled to race the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle in Japan, and will also see relay duty. Meanwhile, Smith will be part of the 800 freestyle relay. Murphy and Fink have qualified for a pair of individual events each and will also be valuable contributors to relay efforts. Murphy will compete in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke and Fink will race the 50 breaststroke and 100 breaststroke.

Combined, Weitzeil, Smith, Fink and Murphy have claimed 29 medals at the World Championships.