Get ready for a thrilling dive into the world of swimming! We're about to uncover some incredible feats and uncover the fastest female swimmers in the 800 IM. But first, a bold statement: the competition is fierce, and these athletes are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the pool.
Three years ago, a remarkable pair of personal bests by Summer McIntosh in the 200 back and 200 breast sparked a question: who holds the fastest 800 IM add-up? At the time, the answer was Hungarian powerhouse Katinka Hosszu, a double World record holder. She was in a league of her own, over three seconds ahead of the pack.
But here's where it gets interesting: McIntosh has taken an impressive leap forward. She's now over eight seconds faster, thanks to significant drops in all four strokes. Her breaststroke time improved by a whopping 3.62 seconds, and her fly time isn't far behind at 3.21 seconds. This is despite her already being the reigning world champion in that event! She also shaved off 1.14 seconds in freestyle and 0.34 seconds in backstroke.
McIntosh's dominance is clear, but she's not alone at the top. Four of the top five swimmers are Olympic Champions, including Katinka Hosszu, Ye Shiwen, Yui Ohashi, and McIntosh herself. The fifth, Mary-Sophie Harvey, has made a remarkable journey, dropping over five seconds to move from 8th to 4th.
Hungary's medley strength extends beyond Hosszu, with four Hungarian swimmers in the top 14. Dalma Sebestyen, with a best time of 4:43.77 in the 400 IM, is a surprising addition. Her impressive 2:26.47 in the 200 breast last month at the Győr Open Swim Cup was a key factor.
The U.S. leads the pack with the most swimmers in the top 20, including Katie Hoff, Ariana Kukors, Elizabeth Beisel, Madisyn Cox, and Leah Smith.
But here's the catch: regularly swimming all the required events at various meets can be a challenge. For some of the best 400 IMers in history, like Stephanie Rice, we couldn't find complete long-course 200 times for all strokes.
So, who else could have made the top 20? If you know a swimmer who's fast enough but missing from this list, let us know in the comments! We want to celebrate all the incredible athletes out there.
Rank Swimmer Fly Back Breast Free Total
1 Summer McIntosh 2:01.99 2:06.81 2:27.23 1:53.65 8:29.68
2 Katinka Hosszu 2:04.27 2:05.85 2:29.00 1:55.41 8:34.53
3 Ye Shiwen 2:08.72 2:09.12 2:22.44 1:57.17 8:37.45
4 Mary-Sophie Harvey 2:10.95 2:10.60 2:23.40 1:55.29 8:40.24
5 Yui Ohashi 2:07.03 2:10.39 2:26.30 1:57.97 8:41.69
6 Mireia Belmonte 2:04.78 2:14.37 2:27.00 1:57.58 8:43.73
7 Katie Hoff 2:09.81 2:09.95 2:28.81 1:55.78 8:44.35
8 Hannah Miley 2:08.24 2:12.66 2:25.40 1:58.54 8:44.84
9 Ariana Kukors 2:10.19 2:13.34 2:27.26 1:56.05 8:46.84
10 Elizabeth Beisel 2:10.72 2:06.18 2:31.29 1:58.66 8:46.85
11 Zsuzsanna Jakabos 2:06.35 2:11.53 2:33.27 1:57.68 8:48.83
12 Dalma Sebestyen 2:08.97 2:10.27 2:26.47 2:03.37 8:49.08
13 Aimee Willmott 2:07.97 2:12.20 2:28.83 2:00.98 8:49.98
14 Evelyn Verraszto 2:08.33 2:10.45 2:35.81 1:56.51 8:51.10
15 Lara Grangeon 2:07.87 2:15.06 2:28.34 2:00.54 8:51.81
16 Abbie Wood 2:14.66 2:20.32 2:21.69 1:56.62 8:53.29
17 Madisyn Cox 2:19.34 2:12.86 2:23.84 1:57.38 8:53.42
18 Fantine Lesaffre 2:13.33 2:12.17 2:26.48 2:02.01 8:53.99
19 Leah Smith 2:11.85 2:10.48 2:35.86 1:55.97 8:54.16
20 Jenna Forrester 2:14.15 2:09.74 2:33.47 1:57.01 8:54.37
Just outside the top 20, we have some incredible swimmers who narrowly missed the cut. Olympic Bronze medalist Caitlin Leverenz was just 0.03 seconds behind Jenna Forrester. There's a common thread among these swimmers: most are from English-speaking countries. Audrey Derivaux, at just 16 years old, notched an impressive 8:54.77.
And this is the part most people miss: Regan Smith, a breaststroke specialist, could have made the list if we had her 200 breaststroke time. She's already clocked an impressive 6:04.42 in free, fly, and back. Kaylee McKeown, Alex Walsh, and Anastasiya Gorbenko are also missing key times, but with 200 fly times under 2:20, they'd comfortably make the list.
So, what do you think? Are you surprised by any of these results? Who do you think could challenge for the top spots in the future? Let's discuss in the comments and celebrate the incredible talent in the world of swimming!
