Australian swimming world record holders: every current world record held by an Australian swimmer | Sporting News Australia

by Admin
June 14, 2024

Australia always competes at the top end of the medal tally in the pool at the Olympics, with some of the country’s most famous athletes having great success in the pool.

Ian Thorpe, Stephanie Rice and Michael Klim all spring to mind as swimmers who have won gold for Australia in the pool in the past, and the current crop of top swimmers include Kaylee McKeown, Ariarne Titmus and Kyle Chalmers.

As a result of Australia’s swimming pedigree, they do hold some world records in various swimming events.

The Sporting News looks at which Australians hold current world records in world swimming.

MORE: All results from 2024 Australian Swimming Trials

Which Australian swimmers hold a world record?

In the ‘long course’ format of swimming (where athletes swim in a 50m pool), Australians hold the world record time in nine different categories; with eight in the women’s events, and one in the mixed relays.

Mollie O’Callaghan, Kaylee Mckeown, Ariarne Titmus and Shayna Jack all hold records in three different categories, some of which include team events.

Emma McKeon and Meg Harris are also part of the world record team in the 4x100m freestyle relay category, with Brianna Throssell also joining them in the women’s 4x200m freestyle team.

Kyle Chalmers and Jack Cartwright are the only male Australian swimmers to hold a world record as part of the mixed 4x100m relay team.

Event	Athlete(s)	Time	Competition
Women’s 200m freestyle	Mollie O’Callaghan	1:52.85	2023 World Championships
Women’s 200m freestyle	Ariarne Titmus	1:52.23	2024 Australian Olympic Trials
Women’s 400m freestyle	Ariarne Titmus	3:55.38	2023 World Championships
Women’s 50m backstroke	Kaylee McKeown	26.86	2023 World Cup
Women’s 100m backstroke	Kaylee McKeown	57.33	2023 World Cup
Women’s 200m backstroke	Kaylee McKeown	2:03.14	2023 NSW State Championships
Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay	Mollie O’Callaghan (52.08) Shayna Jack (51.69) Meg Harris (52.29) Emma McKeon (51.90)	3:27.96	2023 World Championships
Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay	Mollie O’Callaghan (1:53.66) Shayna Jack (1:55.63) Brianna Throssell (1:55.80) Ariarne Titmus (1:52.41)	7:37.50	2023 World Championships
Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay	Jack Cartwright (48.14) Kyle Chalmers (47.25) Shayna Jack (51.73) Mollie O’Callaghan (51.71)	3:18.83	2023 World Championships

Which country holds the most world records in swimming?

Australian swimmers currently have the second highest amount of world records, being only one behind the USA, whose swimmers hold 10 records.

China and Sweden have five and four records respectively, with 14 different countries overall having a swimmer who currently holds a world record.

Country	Men’s record holders	Women’s record holders	Mixed record holders	Total
USA	6	4	N/A	10
Australia	N/A	8	1	9
China	4	1	N/A	5
Sweden	N/A	4	N/A	4
Great Britain	2	N/A	1	3
Hungary	1	1	N/A	2
Germany	2	N/A	N/A	2
Russia	1	1	N/A	2
France	1	N/A	N/A	1
Canada	N/A	1	N/A	1
Italy	1	N/A	N/A	1
Lithuania	N/A	1	N/A	1
Brazil	1	N/A	N/A	1
Ukraine	1	N/A	N/A	1

How many Australian swimmers won a Gold medal in 2020 Olympics?

Australia did fantastically in the pool at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, winning Gold medals in eight different events.

Emma McKeon was the top Aussie swimmer with four gold medals, with Kaylee McKeown winning three and Ariarne Titmus winning two (one of which was a then world record swim in the 200m freestyle).

Zac Stubblety-Cook was the only male swimmer to win a gold medal in the 200m breaststroke.

With many of those same athletes qualifying again for the Paris games, a similar performance will be expected from Australia’s swimmers.