By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
2026 AQUATICS GB SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tuesday, April 14th – Sunday, April 19th Prelims at 9:30am local (4:30am ET)/B-Finals & Junior Finals at 6pm local (1pm ET)/A-finals at 7:45pm local (2:45pm ET) London Aquatics Centre European Championships Selection Policy SwimSwam Preview Meet Central Entries Prelims Recap: Day 1 Finals Recap: Day 1 Start Lists/Live Results LivestreamAfter nearly seven years without swimming the 400 free after he took bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in a time of 3:45.32, James Guy returned to the event at the start of 2025 and, just 15 months later, is in vintage form.
He came within three seconds of his British record of 3:43.75 at the 2025 Aquatics GB Championships, clocking a time of 3:46.64, but having hit halfway in a rapid 1:49.16 there was clearly a hunger to be faster. He swam the event at the AP International and the Sette Colli later in the season, but skipped it at the Singapore World Championships.
He was in a similar position to last year as he came into the Aquatics GB Championships in 2026. He swam 3:49.21 at the Edinburgh international, just off the 3:48.78 he swam at that meet last year, but was only 6th in the heats this morning in a time of 3:51.60, more than a second off his prelims swim of 3:50.28 in 2025.
He stated in his interview after the final that that did introduce some nerves: “Oh god, I’m back in sixth” was what he remembered thinking. However, for a man who has been one of the stars of British swimming for a staggering 13 years now, making his international debut as a 17-year-old with a 5th-place finish in this very event at the 2013 World Championships, that is no barrier.
He was out quick again tonight, going 52.68 to the 100 and hitting the halfway point in 1:49.77 – six-tenths slower than his pace from last year, but looking more in control. His fifth length was a 28.78 and he then descended all three subsequent 50s – 28.60/28.50/28.39 – to pull away from Jack McMillan and storm to his third-fastest swim ever, and his first under 3:45 since 2017, one that ranks him 5th in the world this season.
2025-2026 LCM Men 400 FREE
Zhang CHNZhanshuo 03/213:41.552SamuelSHORTAUS3:42.5304/063Lukas MärtensGER3:43.0403/214Oliver KlemetGER3:43.1404/095Johannes LiebmannGER3:44.5904/09View Top 26»Last year, the 30-year-old struggled down the final 100, splitting 59.75 including a brutal 30.23 final 50, but was 56.89 12 months later. He turned slower than his 2025 pace with 100 to go, and ended 2.60 seconds ahead of it.
On only two occasions has Guy been faster than his swim tonight – his silver-medal-winning swim of 3:43.75 at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, and a 3:43.84 at the 2016 British Championships. The former still stands as the British Record, albeit one that more than a decade later may be in significant danger. The only surprise is that it is in danger from himself.
Split Comparison, Guy’s three Fastest 400 Free Swims
2015 World Championship Final – 3:43.75 2016 British Championships – 3:43.84 2026 Aquatics GB Championships 50 25.80 25.84 25.21 100 54.05 53.47 52.68 150 1:22.05 1:21.31 1:21.42 200 1:50.64 1:49.41 1:49.77 250 2:18.57 2:17.31 2:18.55 300 2:47.17 2:46.06 2:47.15 350 3:15.50 3:14.94 3:15.65 400 3:43.75 3:43.84 3:44.04Guy was out far faster tonight than in either of his two sub-3:44 swims, turning at the 100 meter mark over a second ahead of British record pace. He kept strong through the second half however, outsplitting his closing 200 of 1:54.43 from his 2016 swim with a 1:54.17, although could not match the 1:53.11 that he closed in back in 2015.
Mr Reliable On Relays
Since winning 200 free gold and 400 free silver at the 2015 World Championships at 19 years old, Guy has won just one individual world or Olympic medal – the 100 fly in 2017. The closest he has been in a freestyle event was at the 2016 Olympics, where he placed 4th in 1:45.49. He placed 5th at the 2017 World Championships and 11th at the 2019 edition, and did not qualify individually in the 200 free again until 2025, when he placed 7th.
Despite a lack of individual medals, he has been one of, if not the, most reliable relay performer in the world on the 4×200 free relay. Since running down Michael Weiss on the anchor leg at the 2015 World Championships, Guy has won eight world or Olympic medals on that relay – six gold, one silver, and one bronze.
His relay splits over that time have been immense – 1:44.74 in 2015, 1:44.85 in 2016, 1:43.80 in 2017, 1:44.40 in 2021, 1:45.17 in 2023, 1:45.04 on the leadoff in 2024, and 1:45.00 in 2025. He has been a member of every World and European 4×200 free relay for Great Britain, and every Commonwealth 4×200 free relay, since 2015 bar one – the 2022 European Championships. That is the only 4×200 free relay that Great Britain has failed to medal in since 2015.
Relay prowess has been evident on the 4×100 medley as well. Guy began to swim fly on that relay in 2016, having been an elite national-level swimmer before then (he was 52.55 on the 100 fly in 2018 at 18 years old) but not having swum it internationally. He went toe-to-toe with Michael Phelps in the U.S. icon’s final Olympic race, splitting 51.35 to Phelps’ 50.33 as Great Britain took silver.
They took silver again at the World Championships the next year, with Guy splitting 50.80 as the team set a new national record of 3:28.95, and upgraded to gold in 2019 in a new European record of 3:28.10 – Great Britain’s first-ever gold in the event.
Two more medals followed at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo – a silver in the men’s 4×100 medley, where Guy split 50.27, and gold in the mixed medley in a new world record of 3:37.58, as Guy split 50.00 to rank in the top ten splits all-time.
There is a reason he is known as Mr Reliable, and was recognised with the Maruice Watkins Champion Athlete award at the Aquatics GB Awards last year. His ability to swim at his very best on relays, even when his individual swims have gone a little awry, is remarkable. With his individual swims in the form they are currently, he could be a game-changer for the relays at the European Championships and Commonwealth Games this summer.
His upswing in the individual events has come not just in the 400 free, but also the 200 free. He swam his first best time in nine years when leading off the prelims 4×200 free relay in Paris in 2024, clocking 1:45.09 to shave 0.05 seconds from his world title-winning time of 1:45.14 from 2015, and shaved another few hundredths off to go 1:45.04 in the final.
Swims of 1:45.08 and 1:45.23 followed last year, as he hunted that elusive 1:44 swim, one that would make him just the fourth British swimmer to break 1:45. A second training center move in two years followed, as he moved from Millfield to the newly set up Manchester performance center for the 2025-26 season. The center is led by coach Ryan Livingstone, who was Guy’s coach at Millfield for the 2023-24 season before moving to Manchester.
If Guy is in the same form in the 200 free on Sunday as he has shown in the 400 free, this could be the meet where he does finally break 1:45. With Duncan Scott and Matt Richards, the 2020 and 2024 Olympic silver medalists, also in the field, the final race of the meet could prove to be the best – both for Guy and for the fans.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Mr Reliable…Now Mr Resurgent? James Guy Clocks 3:44.04 400 Free For Fastest Swim Since 2016
Hence then, the article about mr reliable now mr resurgent james guy clocks 3 44 04 400 free for fastest swim since 2016 was published today ( ) and is available on swimswam ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Mr Reliable…Now Mr Resurgent? James Guy Clocks 3:44.04 400 Free For Fastest Swim Since 2016 )
Also on site :