200 m freestyle, men

What to remember

Rome, July 28, 2009: at the World Championships, Germany's Paul Biedermann swam the 200 m freestyle in 1 min 42.00 s, in a long course pool.

Born in Halle, in East Germany, Biedermann specialised in the 200 m and 400 m freestyle. His rise was quick: he reached world and continental finals from 2007, then in 2008 won his first international title and broke his first world record. In 2009 he became world champion and world record holder over both distances, swims that fuelled the controversy over high-tech suits. He also formerly held the long course 400 m world record and the short course 200 m and 400 m world records.

The men's 200 m freestyle spent a long time away from the Olympics: held at the 1900 Games, it then left the programme and only came back in 1968, the year the women's race was introduced. It has been on the World Aquatics Championships programme since 1973. In the long course pool, the men's record belongs to Biedermann and the women's to Australia's Ariarne Titmus.