The 2024 European Championships concluded with a thrilling final in the Men’s 400 Freestyle event. The current World Record for this event is held by Paul Biedermann of Germany, with a time of 3:40.07 set in 2009. The European Record is also held by Biedermann with the same time. However, the Championship Record is currently held by Lukas Martens of Germany, who set it in 2022 with a time of 3:42.50.
In the final race, Felix Auboeck of Austria emerged victorious, setting a new national record with a time of 3:43.24 to win the European Title. Auboeck had previously held the record with a time of 3:43.58 from the 2022 World Championships where he finished fourth. In comparison to his performance at the 2022 World Championships, Auboeck was faster on the front half of the race at the 2024 Euros and flipped under World Record pace at the 150 mark in 1:51.66 before continuing to improve his world ranking with this performance and move up from his previous best time of 3:45.53.
Auboeck will now be aiming to make the podium at the upcoming meet in Paris after finishing fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Games, fourth at the 2021 European Championships, eighth at both the