By Sean Griffin on SwimSwam
2025 World Championships
July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming) Singapore, Singapore World Aquatics Championships Arena LCM (50m) Meet Central Entry Book Live Results SwimSwam Preview IndexMen’s 800 Freestyle — By The Numbers:
World Record: 7:32.12 — Zhang Lin, China (2009) World Junior Record: 7:43.37 — Lorenzo Galossi, Italy (2022) 2023 World Champion: 7:37.00 — Ahmed Hafnaoui, Tunisia 2024 Olympic Champion: 7:38.19 — Daniel Wiffen, IrelandThe men’s 800 freestyle is one of the most anticipated races at the World Championships, along with other hotly contested events like the 50 fly, 100 fly, 100 back, 400 free, and 1500 free.
The field is separated into two tiers: the big five and the best of the rest. There is a clear top five expected to lead the final in Singapore, and those swimmers include Sam Short, Lukas Märtens, Daniel Wiffen, Bobby Finke, and Sven Schwarz.
SwimSwam is approaching this preview a little differently. Rather than giving you a few storylines, such as by continent or athletes’ experiences, SwimSwam is going to lay out the best case for why each of the big five should win the race. We’ll also toss in some of their background to provide perspective on their past, recent performances on the biggest stages, and how they’ve performed when it’s mattered most over the past few seasons.
Before we begin, here’s how the current world rankings look:
2024-2025 LCM Men 800 Free
Sven GERSchwarz05/02ER 7:38.122LukasMÄRTENSGER7:39.1004/153Samuel Short AUS7:40.9506/114FlorianWELLBROCKGER7:41.1004/155Daniel WiffenIRL7:41.5204/136BobbyFINKEUSA7:43.1306/07View Top 26»Without further ado, let’s get into the first athlete.
SAM SHORT (AUSTRALIA)
Sam Short (Photo Credit: Delly Carr/Swimming Australia)
Short’s first major international experience came at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, where he competed in both the 800 and 1500 free. Remarkably, this came just a month after a significant error at the Australian Trials, where he mistakenly finished the 800 two laps early. In Budapest, he posted 7:48.28 in the 800 to place ninth and 15:10.14 in the 1500 for 14th. Although he did not advance to any finals, he moved on to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham a few weeks later, where his results marked a turning point. There, he reached the final in the 400 free (3:45.07) and took silver, then went on to win gold in the 1500 (14:48.54), which was his strongest event at the time.
Less than a year later, Short delivered his breakthrough on the global stage at the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka. He stunned the field in the 400 free by defeating defending Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui, touching in 3:40.68 to win by just two-hundredths of a second. Their rivalry resumed in the 800, where Hafnaoui edged him out, 7:37.00 to 7:37.76. Although Short finished second, his time broke the Oceanian record. He also earned a bronze medal in the 1500 with a time of 14:37.28. Both of his middle-distance performances placed him among the top five swimmers in history. Hafnaoui’s 800 time ranks third all-time, while Short’s sits fourth.
By the time the 2024 Paris Olympics arrived, Short was expected to be a strong contender for multiple medals. However, a combination of injuries and gastrointestinal illness severely disrupted his preparation. The illness struck in the crucial months leading up to the Games, preventing him from training properly and affecting his ability to maintain peak form. As a result, he failed to make the finals in either the 800 or 1500 and finished a disappointing fourth in the 400. His time of 3:42.64 in the 400 was nearly two seconds slower than his personal best and left him just 0.41 seconds short of the podium. P
This season, Short has reestablished himself as one of the world’s top distance swimmers. At the Australian Trials, he swept his events with ease, recording 3:41.03 in the 400, 7:40.95 in the 800, and 14:52.43 in the 1500. His 800 time closely resembled the 7:40.39 he swam at the 2023 Trials before dropping to 7:37.76 at Worlds. Historically, he tends to make his biggest gains in the longer races when tapered. If that pattern holds, he could realistically swim in the 7:38 range or better.
With Hafnaoui suspended and absent from this year’s championships, Short enters Worlds with the fastest time on paper, which represents the strongest argument to pick him for gold. Beyond that, he has shown the ability to perform under pressure. While his 2022 Worlds debut fell short of expectations, it was also his first senior international meet. He rebounded just weeks later at the Commonwealth Games, showing early signs of maturity on the big stage. His 2023 time, paired with a knack for dropping big swims when it matters most, makes a strong case for him to be right in the medal mix.
Lukas Märtens (GERMANY)
Lukas Maertens (Photo Credit: Jack Spitser)
In his Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, Märtens placed seventh as a member of the German men’s 4×200 free relay. Individually, he finished 11th in the 1500 free, 12th in the 400 freestyle, and 18th in the 200 free after losing a swim-off for first alternate.
Märtens broke out in 2022 with performances that showcased his rare ability to compete at the highest level across a wide range of events, from the 200 to the 1500. In March 2022, he dropped nearly seven seconds from his lifetime best in the 1500, stopping the clock at 14:40.28 to become the 11th-fastest performer in history (at the time). The following month at the Stockholm Open, he won the 200, 400, and 800 free, rising to the top of the world rankings. His 3:41.60 in the 400 freestyle ranked him as the eighth-fastest performer of all time (at the time).
At the 2022 Worlds, Märtens hit the wall 15th in the 800 with a time of 7:55.21 and did not advance to the final. He won silver in the 400 free (3:42.85) and finished fourth in the 1500 (14:40.89), just shy of his career best.
At the 2023 Worlds, he again placed fifth in the 1500 free, this time in 14:44.51. In the 800, he set a new German record of 7:39.48, putting his hand on the wall in fifth. By 2024, Märtens had shifted his focus and dropped the 800 and 1500 from his international lineups. Instead, he narrowed his training to the 200 free, 400 free, and 200 back in preparation for Paris.
This strategic change was explained by national coach Bernd Berkhahn in the October 2023 edition of Swim&More, published by the German Swimming Association. “In Fukuoka, Lukas really wanted to try out his full range again,” Berkhahn said. “Afterwards, he saw how fast his 200 meter freestyle was as the starting swimmer in the relay. The time would have been enough for fourth place in the final. If we now give more attention to it and he pushes the 1500 meters away, out of training and out of his head, then everything can develop a little further.”
Berkhahn continued, “I explained to Lukas that it is good for his base if he swims the 1500 meters, but we shouldn’t swim it at international highlights because the training then has to be very broad. I also see potential for development in the 400 meter freestyle. By concentrating on fewer routes, you can get a few percentage points more. In the end, many starts are of no use if you don’t win a medal.”
At the 2024 Doha Worlds, this shift in focus was put into action. Märtens did not race the 800 or 1500. He touched fourth in the 200 free with a near best time of 1:45.33 and earned bronze in the 400 free in 3:42.96. In the 200 back, he missed the final and finished 13th overall with a 1:58.24, falling a few seconds short of his lifetime best.
Ahead of the Paris Olympic Games, Märtens competed at the German Championships in April, where he nearly broke the world record in the 400 free (3:40.33), just missing Paul Biedermann’s 2009 mark of 3:40.07. He also broke the 1:45 barrier in the 200 free for the first time (1:44.14), added a 1:56.00 to win the 200 back, and earned bronze in the 100 free in 48.86.
In Paris, Märtens struck gold in the 400 free, posting 3:41.78, which was notably much slower than his Trials swim. He also placed fifth in the 200 free final, finishing in 1:45.46.
This season, Märtens has already rewritten the record books. At the German Trials, he broke the 400 free World Record with a time of 3:39.96. At the same meet, he posted a career best of 7:39.10 in the 800, improving on his 2023 Fukuoka time by 0.38 seconds. What made the performance especially intriguing, despite his shift away from distance training a year and a half earlier, was how he executed the swim.
He opened the race in 3:51.07 over the first 400 meters, then closed in a blistering 3:48.03 on the back half. By comparison, when he set his previous best of 7:39.48, he opened in 3:47.16 and came home in 3:52.32.
If Märtens can harness his easy speed, as his 200 has improved by over a second since shifting his focus, and combine it with his proven 400 pace, he has the tools to take the race out hard and pose a serious threat. Backed by the endurance foundation from his 14:40 in the 1500, he should be able to hold on and potentially match or surpass Short’s 7:37.76 from 2023.
The only lingering question is whether Märtens can replicate or improve upon his Trials performance on the international stage. Historically, nearly all of his personal bests have come in Germany, with the lone exception being his 800 free from Fukuoka 2023.
BOBBY FINKE (USA)
Bobby Finke (Photo Credit: Jack Spitser)
In his Olympic debut at Tokyo, Finke caught fire, winning two distance gold medals with times of 7:41.87 and 14:39.65 to upset the established distance kings Gregorio Paltrinieri, Florian Wellbrock, and Mykhailo Romanchuk.
He continued to improve significantly at the 2022 Worlds, although he didn’t quite match the extraordinary peak of his double Olympic golds, as he dropped to silver in the 1500. He lowered his 800 time from 7:41.87 to 7:39.36 en route to winning the world title, outdueling Wellbrock for gold. In the 1500, Paltrinieri attacked from the start and claimed gold with the second-fastest time ever (at the time), 14:32.80. Finke again outkicked Wellbrock for silver in 14:36.70, nearly three seconds faster than his Tokyo winning time.
At Fukuoka 2023, Finke took another big step forward. He earned bronze in the 800 with a personal best of 7:38.67 before delivering a career-defining swim in the 1500, finishing just 0.05 seconds behind world champion Ahmed Hafnaoui with a time of 14:31.59—less than a second shy of the nearly 12-year-old World Record.
With Hafnaoui absent in 2024, Finke eased U.S. fans’ worries in Paris by winning the only men’s individual gold for the Americans, taking the 1500 free title. He broke Sun Yang’s longstanding World Record of 14:31.02 with a 14:30.67 to defend his Olympic crown. He settled for silver in the 800 free with 7:38.75, close to his American record of 7:38.67 set in 2023, ranking second in the world behind gold medalist Wiffen.
Finke has improved every year since 2021 across all his races, except in the 800 last year, when he added just eight hundredths of a second to his lifetime best in the Olympic final.
This year, his best times stand at 7:43.13 in the 800 and 14:48.65 in the 1500, but that should not cause concern. He consistently peaks at the biggest meets and tends to deliver season or career bests at exactly the right time. His Trials times from 2021 to 2025 have varied widely, so they should be viewed cautiously. Currently, he sits sixth in the 800 rankings, which aligns with his usual position heading into championship season.
Daniel Wiffen (IRELAND):
Daniel Wiffen (Photo Credit: Aniko Kovacs/European Aquatics)
Speaking of Wiffen, the reigning Olympic champion in this race, his international career also got off to a strong start at the Tokyo Olympics, where he competed in both the 800 and 1500 free. He set national records in both events, finishing 14th in the 800 with 7:51.65 and 15:07.69 in the 1500. At just 20 years old, he was only beginning to mold his career.
At the 2022 Worlds, he set a new national record of 7:46.32 in the 800 prelims to qualify fifth for the final, though he fell back to eighth with a slower 7:50.63. In the 1500, he placed ninth with another national record of 14:57.66. A few weeks later at the Commonwealth Games, he smashed his national 1500 record again, taking silver in 14:51.79 behind Short, who took gold.
Everything changed for the Irishman in 2023. At the Stockholm Open in April, he dropped his 1500 best from 14:51.79 down to 14:34.91, instantly making himself an equal favorite for the World Championships alongside defending champion Paltrinieri and Wellbrock, who had posted a 14:34 just days earlier. He also shaved a couple of seconds off his 800 national record, swimming 7:44.45.
At Worlds, it looked like the 1500 would be his strongest event, but he produced a new national record of 7:43.81 in the 800 prelims and then obliterated that mark in the final, touching in 7:39.19. That swim was a European record at the time and put his 800 time right alongside his 1500 performance at Trials. However, Wiffen admitted he struggled in the 1500, qualifying second for the final with 14:43.50 but only dropping to 14:43.01 in the final, finishing fourth—almost six seconds shy of a podium spot.
December’s 2023 European Short Course Championships marked a huge confidence boost for Wiffen’s career. Unlike many of the other big names on SwimSwam’s list, who typically avoid short course, Wiffen blew up the field with a personal-best 7:20.46 in the SCM 800 freestyle. That swim demolished the legendary world record of 7:23.42 set by Australia’s Grant Hackett in 2008, which had stood as the oldest world record for 15 years.
For context, Hackett had held that 800 free world record since August 3, 2001—less than a month after Wiffen was born.
Wiffen’s previous best was also the old European record, a 7:25.96 from the 2022 Irish Winter Championships. That time ranked him as the fourth-fastest performer ever at the time, but now he sits atop the list thanks to a different race strategy.
Earlier in that same meet, Wiffen claimed the 1500 free title in 14:09.11, knocking more than five seconds off his lifetime best to become the fourth-fastest performer in history. He came within a couple of seconds of Florian Wellbrock’s world record of 14:06.88 from the 2021 Short Course World Championships. He also won the 400 free (3:35.47) on night one, sweeping all the distance free events.
Wiffen then competed at a lightly attended meet where he once again swept the 800 and 1500 events, winning the 800 in 7:40.95 by 2.01 seconds and claiming the 1500 in a career-best 14:34.07, finishing more than ten seconds ahead of the field.
Fast forward to the 800 at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where the top contenders delivered a race to remember. In a tight finish, Wiffen touched first in 7:38.19, edging out Finke by just over half a second.
In the 1500, Wiffen led the field after prelims with 14:40.34 but, like in Fukuoka, could not find another gear in the final. He finished fourth with a time of 14:39.63, well off his best, but still enough to earn bronze.
So far in 2025, Wiffen has shown none of his cards, similar to Finke. He swept the distance events at the Irish Championships in April, touching at 7:41.52 in the 800 and 14:42.71 in the 1500.
His 800 time currently ranks fifth in the world. Before that meet, he stated his goal was to break more world records, saying, “I hold one world record already. I want three more, and I want them within the next four years.”
Whether he was playing mind games or actually tapered for that meet remains to be seen. If he did taper and 7:41 was his best, he may be in trouble in Singapore. However, if he didn’t and still has more to give, a title defense looks well within reach.
One red flag for Wiffen is that at major meets, he tends to be “on” for one event and “off” for the other—either the 800 or the 1500. In 2023, he excelled in the 800 at Worlds; in 2024, his 1500 was stronger; and at the Olympics, his 800 was better again. Excluding the 2024 Worlds, he generally performs better in the 800 at international meets. That’s a good sign for his ranking in this preview, and it may be because the 800 usually comes before the 1500 in the event schedule.
Sven Schwarz (GERMANY):
Sven Schwarz (Photo Credit: Fabio Cetti)
The final member of the big five is 23-year-old Sven Schwarz of Germany. This section will be the shorter, not because he isn’t a legitimate gold medal contender, but because he has only recently announced himself as one over the past few months.
Schwarz first caught attention at the 2023 LEN U23 Championships, where he won gold in both the 800 (7:41.77) and 1500 (14:43.53). After that meet, he became a near lock for Worlds or Olympic finals, provided he could secure a spot on Germany’s distance-heavy and competitive roster for major international meets.
He earned the chance to compete at the 2024 Doha Worlds, where he was a bit off his best. He started with the 400 free, finishing 16th, but in his primary events, he touched fourth in the 800 (7:44.29) and sixth in the 1500 (14:47.89), both well off his personal bests. This could have been deliberate, as the meet was not as high pressure due to many absences and the Olympics were just five months away, so it is unclear whether he was fully tapered.
At Paris, Schwarz opened his meet with a fifth-place finish in the 800 (7:43.59) but missed the 1500 final, posting 14:51.97 for 10th.
Since Paris, however, Schwarz has flipped the script. The 23-year-old smashed a huge lifetime best of 7:38.12 to claim gold at the German Championships in April, defeating Wellbrock and Oliver Klemet in the process. Wellbrock settled for silver with 7:43.79, and Klemet earned bronze in 7:44.61.
Schwarz’s time shaved 0.07 seconds off the former European record of 7:38.19, which Wiffen set en route to Olympic gold in Paris, and sliced over three seconds off his 2023 career best.
He followed that up with another breakthrough in the 1500, breaking through the elusive 14:40 barrier to secure silver in 14:36.82. Wellbrock scared his own personal best en route to gold with 14:36.25.
Schwarz has proven these drops were no fluke. At the recent LEN U23 European Championships, he won gold again in both the 800 and 1500, touching 7:38.98 and 14:38.96 respectively. While not lifetime bests, these times are right on par with his new marks from two months earlier.
The best case for Schwarz winning gold is his steep improvement trajectory. If he can drop more time in Fukuoka, with his best already at 7:38.12, the rest of the field might struggle to respond, at least this year. On the other hand, he has struggled to hit season bests at the last two major international meets, the 2024 Worlds and the Paris Olympics.
Other Names To Watch For:
Ahmed Jaouadi (Tunisia) — The 20-year-old who trains with Phillipe-Lucas has posted a season-best of 7:46.37 so far this year, ranking him tenth in the world standings. Jaouadi knows how to turn it on at big meets, having finished fourth in the 800 free at the Paris Games with a pair of 7:42 swims in both rounds before taking sixth in the 1500. He is coming off a strong Short Course World Championships in December, where he won the 1500 and secured bronze in the 800, another example of stepping up when it counts. He looks poised to become a major factor over the next year or two, potentially turning the big five into a big six. However, he needs to break 7:40 before truly inserting himself into that conversation, which could very well happen in Singapore this week. Kuzey Tuncelli (Turkey) — SwimSwam’s 2024 World Junior Male Swimmer of the Year, Turkey’s Kuzey Tuncelli, is expected to be more of a factor in his specialty, the 1500 free. While only 17, he should not be discounted. He has the potential to drop a few seconds and contend for a finals spot. His best time of 7:46.01, set last month when he won gold at the European Junior Championships and set a Turkish record, currently ranks him eighth in the world. Two swimmers ranked ahead of him will not be competing in the event at Worlds. Over the past three years, the cutoff to make the final has steadily dropped from 7:47 at the 2022 Worlds to 7:44 at the Paris Games last July. Tuncelli will likely need a personal best to qualify. Luca De Tullio (Italy) — Now 21, Italian swimmer Luca De Tullio had the swim of a lifetime in Paris, logging 7:44.07 to qualify seventh out of the heats and advance to the Olympic final. He added slightly to that time with a 7:46.16 in the final but maintained his seventh-place standing. He has only been 7:51.47 so far this year, but his ability to deliver a lifetime best when it matters cannot be overlooked. That said, he had already broken 7:50 on three occasions in the lead-up to Paris, which may limit expectations heading into Singapore. David Aubry (France) — Frenchman David Aubry also made the final in Paris, placing fifth with a time of 7:43.59. He won the French Trials last month in 7:48.41, which puts him more than a second ahead of where he was at this time last year. That is a promising indicator that he could once again land in the top eight. Fei Liwei (China) and Guilherme Costa (Brazil) — Both of these names are worth watching, though they tend to perform better in the 400 free. They will likely need to set new career bests to qualify for the final. Fei has never broken 7:47, while Costa usually hovers around the 7:45 mid-range. Kristof Rasovszky and David Bethlehem (Hungary) — The Hungarian open water duo could also sneak into the final, though their recent racing schedules make them hard to predict. Rasovszky has a 7:44 to his name and could very well make the final if he is in top form, but he underperformed in the open water events this year, failing to win an individual medal despite entering as the defending world and Olympic champion in the 10K. Bethlehem owns a best of 7:47, which puts him on the bubble, but whether either can bounce back after a grueling open water schedule remains to be seen. Results tend to vary widely when athletes try to double back from those races into the pool.SwimSwam Picks
Place Swimmer Nation Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Sam Short Australia 7:40.95 7:37.76 2 Sven Schwarz Germany 7:38.12 7:38.12 3 Daniel Wiffen Ireland 7:41.52 7:38.19 4 Bobby Finke United States 7:43.13 7:38.67 5 Lukas Märtens Germany 7:39.10 7:39.10 6 Ahmed Jaouadi Tunisia 7:46.37 7:42.07 7 Kuzey Tuncelli Turkey 7:46.01 7:46.01 8 David Aubry France 7:48.41 7:42.08Dark Horse: Benjamin Goedemans (Australia) — You can never count out a Dean Boxall-trained freestyler. Although Goedemans lacks experience at major senior international meets, he’s made a sharp drop from 7:55.76 to 7:46.16 and shows no signs of slowing down. It’s tough to predict how he’ll fare in his debut on this stage, but another personal best could put him right in the mix for a spot in the top 8.
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