The men's 400 metre individual medley event at the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25 m) was held on 14 December 2024 at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
Records.
Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows:
Background.
Japan’s Daiya Seto had dominated this event at the Short Course World Championships since 2012, winning six consecutive titles and setting the world record in 2019 (3:54.81). He entered Budapest as the favourite until a cracked rib cast doubt on his participation and form. Seto had previously clocked 3:55.75 to win gold in 2022. His main challengers included Ilya Borodin of Russia, competing as a neutral athlete, who held a lifetime best of 3:56.47 and had swum 3:57.67 earlier in the season, and Italy’s Alberto Razzetti, who had the fastest qualifying time with a 3:57.01 from the 2023 European Championships. The USA’s Carson Foster, a 2021 and 2022 medalist, was also a podium contender. Other finalists included Great Britain’s Max Litchfield (4:00.18 ), Cedric Büssing of Germany, David Schlicht of Australia (4:02.85 PB), Kaito Tabuchi of Japan, Trenton Julian of the USA, China’s Huang Zhiwei, Greece’s Apostolos Papastamos, and Hungary’s Balázs Holló.
"SwimSwam" predicted Borodin would win, Foster would come second, and Razzetti would come third.
Results.
Heats.
The heats were started at 9:28.
Final.
The final was held at 18:42.