@@aussiescotsman4145i mean thorpe still had a better suit than the ones we wear these days. but i agree, this is a mroe impressive swim than the current wr
@@yesmk000yeah bro, thorpe went a 3:41 in a training suit at the 1999 pan pacs, unfortunate that only the last 50m were recorded, he was 16, in a trainer he didn’t even have his black suit yet, mental 😅
@yesmk000 Thorpe’s suit was not a scratch on what they have today. It was textile and it wasn’t as advanced as his competitors here. The full arm was also a hindrance which is why no one else used them.
I love British commentators. They are usually the least nationalistic and always seem to just be a fan of great talent. They don't need their people winning all the time or get defensive when they don't *cough* like American commentators *cough*
Katie has a superior 1500, but Thorpe’s 100 is superior to hers. Thorpe is a 400 swimmer who could win at 800 and medal at 100. Katie is an 800 swimmer who can win at 1500 and was able to medal and win at 200. Same range, but slightly different events.
lol Speedo did a very good job advertising this suit as an advantage. The reality is, it isn't. Most swimmers tested the same exact suit as Thorpe and had the chance to use it but they went slower in it. Aside from that, Speedo and Adidas were two of his biggest sponsors so of course he was gonna use every chance he got to advertise that fact. Sydney Olympics basically trademarked Ian to forever wear this full body suit so he couldn't wear anything else even if he wanted to. It became part of his 'Thorpedo' brand. Whenever you saw this full black body suit at the starting blocks, you knew you were in for something special. It's basically one giant speedo, the same material as the shorts and body suit. The banned suits are made from completely different material. Now THOSE are the suits that held an advantage for swimmers. Which is why everyone wore it! If the suit Thorpe was wearing gave an advantage, best believe every other swimmer would've worn it too, just like they all wore the banned suits. It was the person that made the suit. All these people saying his suit made him win don't know squat. His stroke, his technique and the way he moves in water is like watching Picasso paint or Mozart playing piano. He's a master. An artist. Like watching a shakespeare play on the West End. While Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time, Thorpe will always be the king of freestyle. I'll much rather watch Thorpe swim freestyle than watch Phelps swim different kinds of strokes. Funny that, had Ian stuck to training for Individual IM maybe we could've seen a Phelps and Thorpe race in that!
2002 Thorpe would've hit 3:35 in a 2009 suit. And Phelps and Thorpe did do an IM race in 2003. Phelps won of course. We'll see sub-3:40 in the future, just haven't seen the right athlete come around.Sun Yang is good, but he's a little behind Thorpe.
Different material. Biedermanns suit allowed you to float higher which makes you travel faster through the water. Whereas Thorpe suits gives no significant edge over any other suits and is more of a personal preference.
This was IMO the pinnacle of his career. The announcers talk about how he's only 19 and still growing, and he managed a couple gold in Athens, but it was basically downhill from here.
This is the real record in the 400m Freestyle IMO and I consider Phelps' 200 free from Beijing the real record in that event too. Biedermann never went sub 1:44 in the 200 free or sub 3:43 in the 400m free after those suits were banned. It just sucks that Thorpe glided to the wall instead of taking an extra stroke. He would have been 3:39.8ish and would still have the record
Yer, that's the painful bit. A literal nobody from Germany in a plastic suit turned up and got both records, then took the suit off and was never seen again. Both of those records, especially the 200m, are going to be extremely difficult to break. FINA should really delete all the WR's from 2009.
@sdh106 Biedermann in european championship in Budapest this year did 3.46 and he arrived second... (remember that thorpe did this time when he was 15) biedermann without the x-glide can't do anything -.- Thorpe is the true King of 400 freestyle
And its way worse nowdays. The rules should have been more strict. Its absurd they can swim 15 meters underwater. The short course swimming is unwatchable.
I wish I could go back in time and tell Thorpe to take that last stroke instead of gliding into the wall. He would've gone sub 3:40 and no one would've ever come close to that. 20 years later and there's still no one who can do it. What a shame that this isn't the WR.
Agree 1000%. Out of all the controversies and travesties in the history of swimming, this one stands out as the greatest - Biedermann's 400 WR. Particularly given how far everyone is away from Thorpe's time, incredibly, 20 years later. No one has come close. It is still Thorpe's WR for mine.
@@blinasdf Biedermann was a joke. Wore a suit, got a WR out of nowhere, then disappeared when the suits were banned. I hold out hope that one day FINA will go through and delete the remaining plastic suit records.
@jameson Gosh i finally watch this 400m WR and boy did he really glide at the finish instead of taking 1 more stroke. Sub 3:40 it would have been, and a WR till today.
Without the relay events, only the indivudial events he is: olympic medallist in 100, 200 and 400 free, wordl record in 200, 400 and 800 free and wordl medallist in 100, 200, 400 and 800. Best freestyler ever🏊♂️🏊
Ian Thorpe : The greatest Freestyle Swimmer of all Time. Only Sun Yang Technique may be compared with Ian's, but The great chinese hasn't The stellar kick of the Aussie Master. For The ones Who are BLA blaing about Ian's suit shut up, there is no advantage and was only a business thing, he Also swam qualification without it during olympics. If Ian should had swam with supersuit now we'd have had 1.39 in 200 and 3.35 in 400
+Toivos4 The suit wouldn't help that much. The best textile time for 200 free is 1:43.14 set by Agnel, with improvements visible on the first and third lap, making 1:42.80 something possible. A bodysuit would bring that down to 1:41.5 or somewhere in that range. With the 400 free, a quality race could bring the WR down to 3:39 something and the suit would make it 3:37.
+Question PR2 i was talking about an ipothetical race if ian with Biedermann’s Style supersuit and a Full boost race, in 2001 he was capable of way better Times in 200 but at The Time he raced controlling his main opponent starting Full boost only in The last 75/50 m. To me 3.35 and 1.39/40 low could had been achievable
I remember watching this when I was so young. I couldn't get my head round how he could just keep going. And hey, 2 British swimmers in a world class final!!!
@silviagelain Actually that's half right. Biedermann Wore the Arena X-glide suit, which one upped Speedo's LZR, and broke both Phelps's and Thorpe's records.
yeah but i think he was even better in 2001 i think he went too easy in fukuoka to save energy for a very demanding schedule. i believe he could've probably gone even below 3 39 in that race but guess we'll never know
If you havent noticed, even the commentators talked about Thorpes suit. Theres a reason suits like his arent allowed anymore. His suit makes him stay on top of the water easier which makes him faster. I doubt hed be able to get anywhere close to a 3:40 without the suit, even then.
@MitchSwimming You must still take note that Ian Thorpe had a true FULL (having his full arms covered) body suite on when he swam which was soon made illegal. As I do think Thorpe was faster,the suites did not make that great of a difference. They kind of cancelled out.
Kind of makes me hate the polyurethane suit era because in my experience the leg skins and full body suits in textile, while decreasing a very tiny bit of resistance, were more a sensory preference, while the polyurethane suits absolutely put the swimmers higher on the water and made it easier to go faster times. It really screwed the 400 and even more so the 200 in long course. Beidermann was not as fast as Thorpe but now has the record from 2009 with a time that probably would have been 3:43 at best. I'm not saying Beidermann wasn't a great swimmer but he was not as good as Thorpe. And in the 200 free the only swimmers to be faster than Thorpe in a textile were Phelps and Agnel. Phelps because of the underwaters, and Agnel with sheer speed. But in the 400 free no one has come close to this guy.
I think you are right. I watched that finish so many times now. He could have made one giant last leap or lunge and just touched the wall with his left hand.
I agree with you pierangel.. you have to remember that people today are sensationalists...if you tell them that hoop earrings help swimmers break the water faster, then everyone will wear them AND claim that's why there are soooo many world records...i was watching a race a little while ago where ALL the swimmers had the Lazor suits on and Levaux was NOT wearing one and he broke the world record..twice in two days.. this goes to show.. it's THE SWIMMER.. not the suit. WINK
A couple of things about this WR: 1. Broken in the supersuit era and only did so by 0.09sec 2. This time would win gold in the Paris Olympics by a couple of sec, 22 years after setting the mark RIDICULOUS
Thorpe averaging 29 strokes per length there. First length was 27 and the last two were 31 each. Counting my strokes at long course this morning and swimming an easy pace couldnt do lower than 35! How does he do it????
really like thorpe, Biedermann is a good swimmer, but I really feel he is shamefully just beat this one by 0.01 sec and with the latest swim suit which is not legal nomore, and he definitely didn't perform good enough after the suit been banned
@@Romans8-9 While Thorpe did not have the same suit as people here (2009 was when it reached its all time height in insanity of course) he also had much better and more advanced suits than you see today and before the late 90s started. Don't kid yourself. Do you see anyone wearing a long full body eel suit today? Yeah exactly. If they really wanted to eliminate super suits times they would have to eliminate every single time from all of 98-2009 and that would include all of Thorpe's too. Period, no questions asked.
@@ralphbourgeois5875 Thorpe´s 2002 swim is still considered a textile record. Most swimmers disliked the full body suit worn by Thorpe including Michael Phelps, that´s why most swimmers didn´t wear them. If Phelps said no to it, its pretty obvious the suit didn´t have any advantage. Also, Thorpe did a 3:41 to break Perkins WR at Pan Pacs 1999, in a pair of speedos. Very doubtful Thorpe gained any advantage. At least Thorpe put up similar numbers. Biedermann´s swim came out of nowhere and then disappeared. The guy never even won an olympic medal.
@@Romans8-9 "Thorpe's 2002 swim is still considered a textile record." Sorry but that is bullshit. Simple question, would you be allowed to wear a suit anything near Thorpe's 2002 suit today, or anytime before 1998? Yeah exactly. The fact that Biedermann's 2009 suit was still way more advanced and better which I don't dispute does not change the fact if they wiped out all suit WRs nothing from 2002 and years before 2002 would remain is a fact.
@@Romans8-9 All you are saying is subjective mumbo jumbo. OF COURSE Thorpe is a better and greater swimmer than Biedermann by a long ways, you don't have to convince me of that, LOL! That is not even a question, and irrelevant to anything I said. I am only pointing out the undisputable fact is if the FIS elminated all suit WRs any WRs from say 98-2009, would be removed in every single womens and mens event. Unless there is someone who set a mark that was wearing a suit like say Popov wore, which I don't believe occured ever other than Popov's 2000 50 metre WR which I think has been bested in a textile since 2010 anyway. So no the WR would not fall down to Thorpe, I think it would be Sun Yang holding, don't know for sure and would have to look up to know, but it would be whoever set the fastest time outside the 98-2009 period. It is pretty simple.
To tell you guys the truth, I think Thorpe could've went under 3:40:00 if he probably took one more stroke. His finishing touch wasn't the best since he drifted into the wall. Usually, you want to come into the wall..still a World Record. Fabulous swim!
i know. thorpe messed it up with that glide. they were talking about him going under 3.40 but he blew it on that stroke. if he had gone under 3.40 his record would still stand today. and with the suits now back to what they were, the record could has lasted another 5 years at least.
@martinkenadams I dont think you understood what i ment. Just saying look it up. And i didnt say that the suit was better or just as good. And id you catch that i was talking about Ian Thorpe's suit?...
@j asuaje Which country are you from again?? Probably from one of the counties who continuously accused Ian of steroids but failed to prove anything simply because he didn't use any. As for the body suit, Ian broke his first world record when he was only 15 and WITHOUT the body suit. So that settles the matter of bodysuit. Yes, now the bodysuits are not allowed but in those days, anyone could have won it. And some even after wearing it failed to win let alone break records. So the credit goes to Ian- the swimmer, not his bodysuit. Incidentally I'm not from Australia, in case you're wondering
There's this one guy who swims freestyle like a backstroke...forgot his name though. He's famous of course - not sure if he swam in the olympics but he very well could have.
If you want to see what people are capable of achieving without a suit, sun yang of china is your best bet. He has the fastest time ever without suit in 400m freestyle.
@qwaep Yeah, but it didn't have the high-tech material the x-glide has. Without that suit, Biedermann is nothing. The world record is still 3:40.08, and I doubt anyone will come close to that for a long time.
Streamlines are how close your arms are together after you push off the wall so you have less drag. His don't look too efficient since he only touches his index fingers. Otherwise, yes, he could have been better than he previously was had he not quit
@llamadude99 yes but this isn't a high tech suit the high tech suits are made out of polyurethane his is made out of lycra the development of high tech suits began in 2008 with speedo's LZR
@MitchSwimming hahaha, I agree, I agree. Thorpe was the better swimmer. However, no slight to Biederman. Everyone in Rome had those suits, so Biederman was the best of 2009.
Yea, I'm probably wrong just a bit suspicious. I'd say Grant Hackett has more muscle mass, Sun yang is more ripped taller and weighs less so I think he'd have a better power to weight ratio.
Pause the video at 6:40 when he starts his glide in the times only at 3:39.5 another stroke he would have easily been under 3:40 and the WR would not have gone in 2009 or for a long time if it weren’t for that glide into the wall 😞
google "Instead of conserving energy, perhaps taking a nap" & "AIPS Web Site - FINA opens Pandora's box: Lord" both clearly stating the actual percentages of polyurethane as per my previous post.
For me the 400 freestyle world record still belongs to Ian Thorpe
When they are actually using their skill and not multi fucking million dollar NASA suits Thorpe would probably still have it
@@aussiescotsman4145i mean thorpe still had a better suit than the ones we wear these days. but i agree, this is a mroe impressive swim than the current wr
@@yesmk000yeah bro, thorpe went a 3:41 in a training suit at the 1999 pan pacs, unfortunate that only the last 50m were recorded, he was 16, in a trainer he didn’t even have his black suit yet, mental 😅
@yesmk000 Thorpe’s suit was not a scratch on what they have today. It was textile and it wasn’t as advanced as his competitors here. The full arm was also a hindrance which is why no one else used them.
Yes ,I agree with you
Without any doubt he had the best swimming style of the history of swimming
Sun Yang
Agreed, smooth and gracious
Actually we analyzed this race while we did our coaching license and this race most definitely wasn’t ideal.
@@DonostiGros No.
Totally agree!!!!!
I love British commentators. They are usually the least nationalistic and always seem to just be a fan of great talent. They don't need their people winning all the time or get defensive when they don't *cough* like American commentators *cough*
I've noticed that too. They don't mind taking the back seat and observing..and they always seem genuinely neutral...
Well the British swimmers were half a pool behind.
its funny because to Americans cant initially hear the difference between brits and aussies
Rowdy be like 😂
Ian Thorpe was the beat freestyler of history... 100, 200, 400, 800, 4x100, 4x200... Monstre! Especially 200 and 400!!...
katie ledecky
Katie has a superior 1500, but Thorpe’s 100 is superior to hers.
Thorpe is a 400 swimmer who could win at 800 and medal at 100. Katie is an 800 swimmer who can win at 1500 and was able to medal and win at 200. Same range, but slightly different events.
What an amazing stroke Thorpie has. So smooth the distance he travels through the water with each stroke really is something. Legend.
😅
Anyone else think he could have broken the 3:40 barrier if he took another stroke instead of gliding?
He could have... And Biedermann wouldn't have put his world record away.
+eh ehi there was no time/space enough for another left stroke
I was thinking that too.
He did in training ;)
Correct! Always BLAST INTO THE WALL!!!!!
The world record has only gone down .01 a second and it was with the super suits.
Just shows how good a swimmer Thorpe was.
lol Speedo did a very good job advertising this suit as an advantage. The reality is, it isn't. Most swimmers tested the same exact suit as Thorpe and had the chance to use it but they went slower in it. Aside from that, Speedo and Adidas were two of his biggest sponsors so of course he was gonna use every chance he got to advertise that fact. Sydney Olympics basically trademarked Ian to forever wear this full body suit so he couldn't wear anything else even if he wanted to. It became part of his 'Thorpedo' brand. Whenever you saw this full black body suit at the starting blocks, you knew you were in for something special. It's basically one giant speedo, the same material as the shorts and body suit. The banned suits are made from completely different material. Now THOSE are the suits that held an advantage for swimmers. Which is why everyone wore it! If the suit Thorpe was wearing gave an advantage, best believe every other swimmer would've worn it too, just like they all wore the banned suits. It was the person that made the suit. All these people saying his suit made him win don't know squat. His stroke, his technique and the way he moves in water is like watching Picasso paint or Mozart playing piano. He's a master. An artist. Like watching a shakespeare play on the West End. While Phelps is the greatest swimmer of all time, Thorpe will always be the king of freestyle. I'll much rather watch Thorpe swim freestyle than watch Phelps swim different kinds of strokes. Funny that, had Ian stuck to training for Individual IM maybe we could've seen a Phelps and Thorpe race in that!
So true
So you are saying that Thorpe could have been faster than this if it wasn't for the suit?
If Thorpe had access to an arena glide-x like Biedermann was wearing in 2009 you better believe world records would look very different.
2002 Thorpe would've hit 3:35 in a 2009 suit. And Phelps and Thorpe did do an IM race in 2003. Phelps won of course. We'll see sub-3:40 in the future, just haven't seen the right athlete come around.Sun Yang is good, but he's a little behind Thorpe.
WAT EVA
Are you an idiot? LOL. If it wasn't an advantage do you think Thorpe would wear it? Wow the sheer stupidity of some people
Thorpe has the most graceful freestyle stroke ever
If he took one more stroke he would of been under 3:40, that glide cost him that barrier.
Same with sun yang in 2012 lol
+random channel 101 Nah, there wasn't time/space (which are actually equivalent).
Rowan Doherty there was time for sure
Different material. Biedermanns suit allowed you to float higher which makes you travel faster through the water. Whereas Thorpe suits gives no significant edge over any other suits and is more of a personal preference.
This was IMO the pinnacle of his career. The announcers talk about how he's only 19 and still growing, and he managed a couple gold in Athens, but it was basically downhill from here.
That’s because he got depressed and retired…
But still beat VDH, Phelps, Hackett et al in the race of the century at Athens.
@@donna25871 True, he just under 1:45 in the 200 free, which was an OR at the time, but 3:43.1 in the 400 was 3 secs off his '02 time
@@tenningale It was also because he added the 100 free. Your middle distance time goes up when you get into sprinting
After Craig Stevens had to be "bribed" to give up his spot, Thorpe went downhill.
Still the WR in my mind
In my opinion we should see the textile world records as the real world records and see the super-suit records of 200-2009 more as fun trivia facts.
yep
Amazing that it went down only .01 with the super suits.
Just shows how good of a swimmer Thorpe was.
@@Thediamondduck11 he is still a Legend 🤗
@@Thediamondduck11 And its the oldest textile record in long course.
Its crazy how hes able to breath every stroke and not gas out. Pure talent
Wdym? All top swimmers breath every stroke
More amazing is how he is able to breathe on both sides without losing rythm
This is the real record in the 400m Freestyle IMO and I consider Phelps' 200 free from Beijing the real record in that event too. Biedermann never went sub 1:44 in the 200 free or sub 3:43 in the 400m free after those suits were banned. It just sucks that Thorpe glided to the wall instead of taking an extra stroke. He would have been 3:39.8ish and would still have the record
Yer, that's the painful bit. A literal nobody from Germany in a plastic suit turned up and got both records, then took the suit off and was never seen again. Both of those records, especially the 200m, are going to be extremely difficult to break. FINA should really delete all the WR's from 2009.
@@jameson566 still nearly half of the world record are from 2008-2009.
This makes broken world records like Milak in 200 butterfly way more insane.
@@jameson566 his results from the 2007 World Champinship is beyond joke.
Biedermann was like 3:47 swimmer in 400 meters before the "magic" suit.
Sun Yang is shaping up to be one of the greatest mid and long distance freestylers of all time.
He's a drug cheat
@@kdavies3105 Everybody's a cheat. It's just who gets caught
@sdh106 Biedermann in european championship in Budapest this year did 3.46 and he arrived second... (remember that thorpe did this time when he was 15) biedermann without the x-glide can't do anything -.- Thorpe is the true King of 400 freestyle
Can you say that his technique is king of all? So smooth.
It was the suit he was wearing that made everything look smooth.
No one had and will ever have such a perfect Technique. The ‘PERFECT stroke’. Greatest freestyle swimmer ever.
Hmkls you clearly know nothing about swimming.
Unmatched.
Brandon T his head position is kinda high
You know how far swimming has become when you hear someone say "Fantastic Turn" and the swimmer pops up before the 10m mark...
And its way worse nowdays.
The rules should have been more strict.
Its absurd they can swim 15 meters underwater.
The short course swimming is unwatchable.
I think if the super suits weren't even a thing, I would bet money that his record will still be standing.
Clarification, it wasn't a Speedo brand suit. It was the Arena X-Pro Glide.
Watch the video about how Thorpe's suit is made. It is the same thing, just with sleeves, but with less advanced fabric.
Thanks for the upload I've always wanted to see the older WRs that are super fast like this one!
I wish I could go back in time and tell Thorpe to take that last stroke instead of gliding into the wall. He would've gone sub 3:40 and no one would've ever come close to that. 20 years later and there's still no one who can do it. What a shame that this isn't the WR.
100% agree.
Agree 1000%. Out of all the controversies and travesties in the history of swimming, this one stands out as the greatest - Biedermann's 400 WR. Particularly given how far everyone is away from Thorpe's time, incredibly, 20 years later. No one has come close. It is still Thorpe's WR for mine.
@@blinasdf Biedermann was a joke. Wore a suit, got a WR out of nowhere, then disappeared when the suits were banned. I hold out hope that one day FINA will go through and delete the remaining plastic suit records.
@@jameson566 I do too
@jameson Gosh i finally watch this 400m WR and boy did he really glide at the finish instead of taking 1 more stroke. Sub 3:40 it would have been, and a WR till today.
Oh my gosh I don’t even care if Mark Johnson lose because Thorpe is the greatest swimmer in the 21st-century
thanks for posting this x
Without the relay events, only the indivudial events he is: olympic medallist in 100, 200 and 400 free, wordl record in 200, 400 and 800 free and wordl medallist in 100, 200, 400 and 800.
Best freestyler ever🏊♂️🏊
What a swimmer, absolutely majestic
The funny thing is that his suit is almost as good as the new suits today. If you don't believe me just look it up.
Ian Thorpe : The greatest Freestyle Swimmer of all Time. Only Sun Yang Technique may be compared with Ian's, but The great chinese hasn't The stellar kick of the Aussie Master.
For The ones Who are BLA blaing about Ian's suit shut up, there is no advantage and was only a business thing, he Also swam qualification without it during olympics.
If Ian should had swam with supersuit now we'd have had 1.39 in 200 and 3.35 in 400
+Toivos4 The suit wouldn't help that much.
The best textile time for 200 free is 1:43.14 set by Agnel, with improvements visible on the first and third lap, making 1:42.80 something possible. A bodysuit would bring that down to 1:41.5 or somewhere in that range.
With the 400 free, a quality race could bring the WR down to 3:39 something and the suit would make it 3:37.
+Question PR2 i was talking about an ipothetical race if ian with Biedermann’s Style supersuit and a Full boost race, in 2001 he was capable of way better Times in 200 but at The Time he raced controlling his main opponent starting Full boost only in The last 75/50 m. To me 3.35 and 1.39/40 low could had been achievable
David Pumpkin have done a last stroke now we’d have a 3.39 WR
I remember watching this when I was so young. I couldn't get my head round how he could just keep going. And hey, 2 British swimmers in a world class final!!!
One of the best swimmers ever
Rick Say in lane 8 only started swimming year round in University (18).
Wow this was released before Biedermann’s 3:40.07 in the description it still says “still the world record.”
The one that almost got away.
Got away in my book 🥱
@silviagelain Actually that's half right. Biedermann Wore the Arena X-glide suit, which one upped Speedo's LZR, and broke both Phelps's and Thorpe's records.
Thorpe would have swam this in under 3 minutes if wore a NASA -space- swimsuit.
yeah but i think he was even better in 2001
i think he went too easy in fukuoka to save energy for a very demanding schedule. i believe he could've probably gone even below 3 39 in that race but guess we'll never know
Such a lovely champion! So powerful and so effortless, so fast and so smooth..
only 200k views?! this is arguably one of the most legendary races in swimming history!
Wizard of freestyle.
I like his swimming soooooo much. 🙏
If you havent noticed, even the commentators talked about Thorpes suit. Theres a reason suits like his arent allowed anymore. His suit makes him stay on top of the water easier which makes him faster. I doubt hed be able to get anywhere close to a 3:40 without the suit, even then.
OwnedzFtwPk wrong
He can go 3:40 bro or even breaking the 3:40 barrier
His swimming technique 💕💕💕💕💕💞
he could have gone under 3:39.99 if he took one more stroke at the end
we love you Ian Thorpe
I still find this video inspiring, I miss this goi :(. I can't wait to see what he does for the 2012 olympics ;D if he'll qualify
Hope Short or Winnington can redeem for Ian Thorpes WR, and finally have a real WR
Yes they did. The initial LZR suit used the poly but wasn't completely poly. Jaked, arena, blueseventy and various others made the complete poly suit.
Had he taken an extra rapid stroke instead of the long glide towards the wall he’d have been under 3:40
@MitchSwimming You must still take note that Ian Thorpe had a true FULL (having his full arms covered) body suite on when he swam which was soon made illegal. As I do think Thorpe was faster,the suites did not make that great of a difference. They kind of cancelled out.
@MitchSwimming no doubt thorpe will always be the worlds best 400m freestyler and possibly 200 meter freestyler
Kind of makes me hate the polyurethane suit era because in my experience the leg skins and full body suits in textile, while decreasing a very tiny bit of resistance, were more a sensory preference, while the polyurethane suits absolutely put the swimmers higher on the water and made it easier to go faster times. It really screwed the 400 and even more so the 200 in long course. Beidermann was not as fast as Thorpe but now has the record from 2009 with a time that probably would have been 3:43 at best. I'm not saying Beidermann wasn't a great swimmer but he was not as good as Thorpe. And in the 200 free the only swimmers to be faster than Thorpe in a textile were Phelps and Agnel. Phelps because of the underwaters, and Agnel with sheer speed. But in the 400 free no one has come close to this guy.
I think you are right. I watched that finish so many times now. He could have made one giant last leap or lunge and just touched the wall with his left hand.
Thanks so much.
I agree with you pierangel.. you have to remember that people today are sensationalists...if you tell them that hoop earrings help swimmers break the water faster, then everyone will wear them AND claim that's why there are soooo many world records...i was watching a race a little while ago where ALL the swimmers had the Lazor suits on and Levaux was NOT wearing one and he broke the world record..twice in two days.. this goes to show.. it's THE SWIMMER.. not the suit. WINK
you're right but by polyurthane i meant the amount of polyurthane used in the jaked and arena suits used in 2009
A couple of things about this WR:
1. Broken in the supersuit era and only did so by 0.09sec
2. This time would win gold in the Paris Olympics by a couple of sec, 22 years after setting the mark
RIDICULOUS
If only Grant won he's my fav swimmer and hero
I go to the same school as ian thorpe use to go to
The fabric is everything mate....
Thorpe averaging 29 strokes per length there. First length was 27 and the last two were 31 each. Counting my strokes at long course this morning and swimming an easy pace couldnt do lower than 35! How does he do it????
Are you as tall as him?
really like thorpe, Biedermann is a good swimmer, but I really feel he is shamefully just beat this one by 0.01 sec and with the latest swim suit which is not legal nomore, and he definitely didn't perform good enough after the suit been banned
They should erase all super suit world records. It is a huge injustice to people like Thorpe..
@@Romans8-9 While Thorpe did not have the same suit as people here (2009 was when it reached its all time height in insanity of course) he also had much better and more advanced suits than you see today and before the late 90s started. Don't kid yourself. Do you see anyone wearing a long full body eel suit today? Yeah exactly. If they really wanted to eliminate super suits times they would have to eliminate every single time from all of 98-2009 and that would include all of Thorpe's too. Period, no questions asked.
@@ralphbourgeois5875 Thorpe´s 2002 swim is still considered a textile record. Most swimmers disliked the full body suit worn by Thorpe including Michael Phelps, that´s why most swimmers didn´t wear them. If Phelps said no to it, its pretty obvious the suit didn´t have any advantage. Also, Thorpe did a 3:41 to break Perkins WR at Pan Pacs 1999, in a pair of speedos. Very doubtful Thorpe gained any advantage. At least Thorpe put up similar numbers. Biedermann´s swim came out of nowhere and then disappeared. The guy never even won an olympic medal.
@@Romans8-9 "Thorpe's 2002 swim is still considered a textile record." Sorry but that is bullshit. Simple question, would you be allowed to wear a suit anything near Thorpe's 2002 suit today, or anytime before 1998? Yeah exactly. The fact that Biedermann's 2009 suit was still way more advanced and better which I don't dispute does not change the fact if they wiped out all suit WRs nothing from 2002 and years before 2002 would remain is a fact.
@@Romans8-9 All you are saying is subjective mumbo jumbo. OF COURSE Thorpe is a better and greater swimmer than Biedermann by a long ways, you don't have to convince me of that, LOL! That is not even a question, and irrelevant to anything I said. I am only pointing out the undisputable fact is if the FIS elminated all suit WRs any WRs from say 98-2009, would be removed in every single womens and mens event. Unless there is someone who set a mark that was wearing a suit like say Popov wore, which I don't believe occured ever other than Popov's 2000 50 metre WR which I think has been bested in a textile since 2010 anyway. So no the WR would not fall down to Thorpe, I think it would be Sun Yang holding, don't know for sure and would have to look up to know, but it would be whoever set the fastest time outside the 98-2009 period. It is pretty simple.
yeah i felt sorry for him when lineaker said the commentary guys were happy to see his record go
To tell you guys the truth, I think Thorpe could've went under 3:40:00 if he probably took one more stroke. His finishing touch wasn't the best since he drifted into the wall. Usually, you want to come into the wall..still a World Record. Fabulous swim!
Ian thorpe is still the best swimmer in 400m freestyle
Thorpe is the Greatest Freestyle Swimmer Ever
Do they even make or allow any suits to cover the arms anymore?
And boy that thing holds bubbles in that last underwater shot!
Correct me if im wrong is he looking forward?
Thorpie my fave swimmer!
@silviagelain it was the arena x glide, not speedo.
i know. thorpe messed it up with that glide. they were talking about him going under 3.40 but he blew it on that stroke. if he had gone under 3.40 his record would still stand today. and with the suits now back to what they were, the record could has lasted another 5 years at least.
@martinkenadams
I dont think you understood what i ment. Just saying look it up. And i didnt say that the suit was better or just as good. And id you catch that i was talking about Ian Thorpe's suit?...
@j asuaje Which country are you from again?? Probably from one of the counties who continuously accused Ian of steroids but failed to prove anything simply because he didn't use any. As for the body suit, Ian broke his first world record when he was only 15 and WITHOUT the body suit. So that settles the matter of bodysuit. Yes, now the bodysuits are not allowed but in those days, anyone could have won it. And some even after wearing it failed to win let alone break records. So the credit goes to Ian- the swimmer, not his bodysuit. Incidentally I'm not from Australia, in case you're wondering
@gusyrocks i agree popov, thorpe, hackett, phelps are my favourite swimmers Biedermann and Mellouli are fruads!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what was the commentator talking about? "60 lengths of the Olympic pool" isnt it 30? 1500m = 2 lengths per 100. 15 X 2 = 30
Wow total domination by Australia.
There's this one guy who swims freestyle like a backstroke...forgot his name though. He's famous of course - not sure if he swam in the olympics but he very well could have.
Yang is by far in better shape. Hackett had a bit of a gut for most of his races.
If you want to see what people are capable of achieving without a suit, sun yang of china is your best bet. He has the fastest time ever without suit in 400m freestyle.
He is juiced
@qwaep Yeah, but it didn't have the high-tech material the x-glide has. Without that suit, Biedermann is nothing. The world record is still 3:40.08, and I doubt anyone will come close to that for a long time.
the only time i've seen thorpe actually have an aggressive finish is on relays , his 200 free vs VDH in 2001 and his 800 vs hackett
@Virus278 : Well, you said 'What about Phelps?', which is a very vague question. What, exactly, are you asking about him?
Streamlines are how close your arms are together after you push off the wall so you have less drag. His don't look too efficient since he only touches his index fingers. Otherwise, yes, he could have been better than he previously was had he not quit
@llamadude99 yes but this isn't a high tech suit
the high tech suits are made out of polyurethane his is made out of lycra
the development of high tech suits began in 2008 with speedo's LZR
well in his words: The suit probably helps 0.01 of a second which can be the difference between 1st and 2nd.
+Adidas pays him tons of money to wear it
Phenomenal race and perfect efficient technique, phelps will have no chance against him in 2012
@MitchSwimming
hahaha, I agree, I agree. Thorpe was the better swimmer. However, no slight to Biederman. Everyone in Rome had those suits, so Biederman was the best of 2009.
gorgeous
@XanthiJr So you don't approve the one which was set by Paul Biedermann.
This Aussie record is on its death bed either going down later today or in Paris
Yea, I'm probably wrong just a bit suspicious. I'd say Grant Hackett has more muscle mass, Sun yang is more ripped taller and weighs less so I think he'd have a better power to weight ratio.
@Virus278 : What, exactly, are you asking?
Pause the video at 6:40 when he starts his glide in the times only at 3:39.5 another stroke he would have easily been under 3:40 and the WR would not have gone in 2009 or for a long time if it weren’t for that glide into the wall 😞
He split a 52.98 for his first split that's like a 43 high or fourth four low in yards
the greatest swimmer of the modern era
Phelps exists
I would say just about all the swimmers are clean. The Olympic drug testing program is incredibly harsh.
the lzr was polyurthane. but not 100% like the arena. it consisted of polyurthane patches
@backstroker4104
Ahhhh that would explain it. Thanks for the correction :)
This is the real world record not that fake plastic world record from 2009
google
"Instead of conserving energy, perhaps taking a nap"
&
"AIPS Web Site - FINA opens Pandora's box: Lord"
both clearly stating the actual percentages of polyurethane as per my previous post.
@splitkostanjeuma thanks, but then why does he wear it?