The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25 m) was held on 15 December 2024 at the Duna Arena in Budapest, Hungary.
Records.
Prior to the competition, the existing world and championship records were as follows.
The following records were established during this competition:
Background.
The event field featured limited carryover from the 2022 Short Course World Championships. Lithuania’s Danas Rapšys, a five-time Short Course Worlds medalist, was the only swimmer from the Melbourne final entered in Budapest. Rapsys’s lifetime best stood at 1:40.85 from 2017; his season best was 1:42.00, recorded at the Incheon stop of the 2024 World Cup. Kieran Smith of the United States, who finished ninth in Melbourne, recorded a personal best of 1:41.04 while leading off the USA's 4×200 m freestyle relay and was expected to contend for a place in the final.
Olympic bronze medalist Luke Hobson also entered the event, though he had limited short-course meters experience. He was the current American record holder in the 200-yard freestyle (1:28.81). Australia’s Edward Sommerville had the fastest qualifying time with a 1:40.64 from the 2024 Australian Short Course Championships, where Max Giuliani also swam a personal best of 1:41.39. Other notable entries included Lukas Märtens, Lucas Henveaux, Tatsuya Murasa, Antonio Djakovic, and Aleksandr Shchegolev.
"SwimSwam" predicted Edward Sommerville would win, Luke Hobson would take second, and Max Giuliani would finish third.
Results.
Heats.
The heats were started at 9:21.
Final.
The final was held at 18:40.