Lukas Maertens has just set a new personal best time in the men’s 400 freestyle at the 2024 German Swimming Championships, also known as the Olympic Trials. His time of 3:40.33 was the fastest in the world for the season and 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. However, his new personal best time surpassed his previous record of 3:41.60 set in April 2022, making him one of the top performers in his event.
At the recent World Championships, he won a silver medal with a time of 3:42.85 and has consistently been on the podium at international competitions over the years. Despite not making it to the final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Maertens has shown significant improvement and is now ranked as #5 all-time performer in men’s 400 freestyle event behind Paul Biedermann, Ian Thorpe, Sun Yang, and Ous Mellouli who are also included on this list as top performers all-time.
Looking ahead to next year’s Paris Olympics, Maertens will aim to make a mark in the men’s 400 freestyle event where he has shown great potential for success based on his impressive performance at this year’s championships.