In Berlin, the 2024 German Swimming Championships kicked off with an impressive performance from Lukas Maertens. He posted a time of 3:40.33 in the men’s 400 freestyle, which was just shy of breaking Paul Biedermann’s world record of 3:40.07 set in 2009. This achievement came after Australian swimmers Elijah Winnington and Sam Short had previously set the two fastest times in the world with a 3:41.41 and 3:41.64, respectively.
Maertens had been ranked #4 in the world this season with a time of 3:42.96 at the 2024 World Championships in Doha. His new personal best time surpassed his previous record of 3:41.60 set in April 2022 and placed him as the #5 performer all-time in the men’s 400 freestyle event, just behind Ian Thorpe and Sun Yang who both hold world records in this event. At the 2022 World Championships, he won a silver medal with a time of 3:42.85.
Looking ahead to the Paris Olympics, Maertens will aim to make a mark in the men’s 400 freestyle event where he has consistently been on the podium at the last three World Championships, winning bronze in both years and silver in 2022 despite not making it to final at Tokyo Olympics . Despite significant improvement over years, Maertens still has room for improvement as he is looking to break Paul Biedermann’s world record and become an Olympic gold medalist