Textile Best Times

. Men . 50m Free 21.19 Florent Manaudou FRA 8/2015 World Champs . 100m Free 47.04 Cameron McEvoy AUS 4/2016 Aus Trials . 200m Free 1:43.14 Yannick Agnel FRA 7/2012 Olympics . 400m Free 3:40.08 Ian Thorpe AUS 7/2002 Commonwealths . 800m Free 7:38.57 Sun Yang CHN 7/2011 World Champs . 1500m Free 14:31.02 Sun Yang CHN 8/2012 Olympics . 50m Back 24.07 Camille Lacourt FRA 8/2010 Euro Champs . 100m Back 52.08 Matt Grevers USA 6/2012 US Trials . 200m Back 1:52.96 Ryan Lochte USA 7/2011 World Champs . 50m Brst 26.42 Adam Peaty GBR 8/2015 World Champs . 100m Brst 57.92 Adam Peaty GBR 4/2015 British Champs . 200m Brst 2:07.01 Akihiro Yamaguchi  JAP 9/2012 Japan Nationals . 50m Fly 22.76 Cesar Cielo BRA 4/2012 Maria Lenk . 100m Fly 50.40 Ian Crocker USA 7/2005 World Champs . 200m Fly 1:52.09 Michael Phelps USA 3/2007 World Champs . 200m IM 1:54.00 Ryan Lochte USA 7/2011 World Champs . 400m IM 4:05.18 Ryan Lochte USA 7/2012 Olympics . . Women

. 50m Free 23.84 Cate Campbell AUS 4/2016 Aus Trials . 100m Free 52.33 Cate Campbell  AUS 7/2013 World Champs . 200m Free 1:53.61 Allison Schmitt USA 7/2012 Olympics . 400m Free 3:58.37 Katie Ledecky USA 8/2014 Pan Pacs . 800m Free 8:06.68 Katie Ledecky USA 1/2016 USA Pro Series . 1500m Free 15:25.48 Katie Ledecky USA 8/2015 World Champs . 50m Back 27.11 Fu Yuanhui CHN 8/2015 World Champs . 100m Back 58.23 Emily Seebohm AUS 8/2012 Olympics . 200m Back 2:04.06 Missy Franklin USA 8/2012 Olympics . 50m Brst 29.48 Ruta Meilutyte LTU 7/2013 World Champs . 100m Brst 1:04.35 Ruta Meilutyte LTU 7/2013 World Champs . 200m Brst 2:19.11 Rikke M Pedersen DEN 7/2013 World Champs . 50m Fly 24.43 Sarah Sjostrom SWE 7/2014 Swedish Nats . 100m Fly 55.74 Sarah Sjostrom SWE 8/2015 World Champs . 200m Fly 2:04.06 Jiao Liuyang CHN 8//2012 Olympics . 200m IM 2:06.12 Katinka Hosszu HUN 8/2015 World Champs . 400m IM 4:28.43 Ye Shiwen CHN 7/2012 Olympics

Bold denotes current World Record

Updated 14 April 2016

Paul Biedermann - 1:45.84 - Wins German Nationals

A week after Yannick Agnel made all the headlines in the men's 200m Free at the Paris Open, Paul Biedermann responded in his own way at German Nationals today.

Biedermann took over from Agnel at the top of the world rankings with a superb time of 1:45.84. Biedermann took the race out hard turning in 24.96 at 50m and 51.26 at the 100m turn. (During his 1:42.00 swim Biedermann split 24.23 and 50.12).

To be recognised in the same company as 200m Free greats Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps, Biedermann will need to get down to their textile best times. Thorpe's best is 1:44.06 from the 2001 World Champs, Phelp's best (and the best time ever in a 100% textile suit) is 1:43.86 from the 2007 World Champs. Whether this is a 100% fair comparison is open to debate considering that Thorpe wore his trademark black all body suit and Phelps was wearing a suit covering his chest and legs.

Biedermann was actually faster than Thorpe's 2001 split at 100m (51.26 to 51.45). At 150m Thorpe edged slightly ahead on 1:18.26 to Biedermann's 1:18.49. Before Thorpe 'dropped the hammer' on the last 50m.

Even more interesting is the comparison between Biedermann's effort today and 2001's 2nd placed finisher Pieter van den Hoogenband. Biedermann swam 24.96, 26.30, 27.23, 27.35 to finish in 1:45.84. VDH swam 24.67, 26.76, 27.03, 27.35 to finish in 1:45.81. Just 0.03 split the two swims and they had an identical final 50m. The big difference between the swims was the fact that VDH was swimming in 2001's most hyped race, Biedermann was at his national championships without any competition. At European's vs. Agnel and/or next year's World Champs vs. Phelps we will surely see even more from Biedermann.

Add your thoughts on Biedermann below. Let's work this out together.