Lukas Maertens, a German swimmer, had an impressive performance at the 2024 German Swimming Championships, also known as the Olympic Trials. 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 previously 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. At the 2022 World Championships, he won a silver medal with a time of 3:42.85.
Looking ahead to the upcoming Paris Olympics, Maertens will aim to make a mark in the men’s 400 freestyle event as 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 the final at the Tokyo Olympics, Maertens has shown significant improvement over the years and is now ranked as the #5 performer all-time in this event, behind Paul Biedermann, Ian Thorpe, Sun Yang, and Ous Mellouli.
