Men's 400 Meter Individual Medley

Phelps will again face a challenge from Lochte for gold, but with the longer distance in this IM the little ways in which Phelps excels add up to a greater margin of victory. Phelps owns the World Record in this event and has a history of rebreaking it at big meets like Worlds in 2003, Trials then Athens in 2004, Worlds in 2007, and the current record in this year's trials. I think we are in for a great race as Ryan Lochte broke Phelps's standing WR in the finals in Omaha (swimming a 4:06.08), but so did Phelps in the same race (4:05.25), so Lochte has never owned this WR. We could see both men go under 4:05 in the finals in Beijing.

Lochte (closest to the camera) and Phelps figure to go 1-2 in both IMs

 

Hungarian Laszlo Cseh (left) took bronze in this even in Athens, and I expect him to get on the podium again this year. He won both IMs at Euros, easily, and is the third fastest swimmer this year with a 4:07.96 in June. Laszlo Cseh currently holds the 400 IM WR in short course pools.

Luca Marin took the bronze in Melbourne but I don't expect him to medal in Beijing. His time at Euros this year was 7 seconds slower. He probably doesn't have much competition for the team in Italy, so perhaps he did taper much for that event and his time still put him in the top 13 for this year. Or perhaps his 4:09 in Melbourne was spurred on by the fact that he had Phelps and Lochte on either side of him to chase after his horrible fly leg.

Medal Predictions:

Video:

Watch the Big Names of the 400 IM compete in Melbourne

Phelps & Lochte both go under the WR in Omaha

Michael Phelps kicked off his Athens program with the 400 IM

 

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