The men's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25 m) was held on 12 December 2024 at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
Records.
Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
Background.
Two medalists from the 2022 Short Course World Championships in Melbourne returned for the event in Budapest: the USA's defending champion Kieran Smith and Lithuania's bronze medalist Danas Rapšys. Smith won gold in Melbourne with a lifetime best of 3:34.38 and had swam the fastest in the 2024 season with a 3:36.97 from the Singapore World Cup stop. Rapšys, a former gold medalist in 2018, entered with a 2024 season best of 3:37.31, also from the World Cup circuit. Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux, bronze medalist at the 2023 European Short Course Championships, held the second-fastest time among entrants at 3:37.23. Other sub-3:40 swimmers included Ahmed Jaouadi of Tunisia (3:38.74), Xu Yizhou of China (3:38.81), and Roman Fuchs of France (3:39.55). Olympic champion Lukas Märtens and 2022 long-course world champion Elijah Winnington also featured, though neither had recent short-course results. Additional contenders included Antonio Djaković, a 2021 Worlds bronze medalist, and Carson Foster of the USA. Bulgaria’s Petar Mitsin, the long-course junior world record holder, entered with a short-course best of 3:41.19.
"SwimSwam" predicted Winnington would win, Märtens would take second, and Henveaux would come third.
Results.
Heats.
The heats were started at 10:29.
Final.
The final was held at 19:13.