5 Michael Phelps records that have been broken ft. 400 m Medley, 100 m Butterfly

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Jul 16, 2024 09:08 GMT

Michael Phelps is arguably one of the greatest athletes in all of sport. Most of his records would possibly take years if not decades to be broken, including his lifetime record of 23 Olympic gold medals.

However, there have been some occasions where records set by Phelps have been broken. Some took less than a year to be broken, while others took more than a decade.

Here are some of the records that were set by Phelps, but were ultimately superseded:

5 Michael Phelps records that have been broken ft. 400 m Medley, 100 m Butterfly

#5) Leon Marchand [France - 400m Individual Medley]

Leon Marchand greeting his supporters [Image Source: Getty]

Last year, Leon Marchand created a sensation at the 2023 Aquatics World Championships.

The French swimmer won 4 medals at the World Championships, including 3 golds and 1 silver. However, the most special moment was the 400m Individual Medley, where Marchand clocked in at 4:02.50 to win the race with a new world record.

Marchand had broken the record of 4:03.84 created by Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Phelps himself presented the gold medal to the young Marchand for this win.

#4) Kristof Milak [Hungary - 200m Butterfly]

Kristof Milak of Hungary in action [Image Source: Getty]

This multiple gold medalist from Hungary has gone faster than Michael Phelps' time not once but twice. Only a year after winning 3 golds and 1 silver at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics, Kristof Milak broke Phelps' decade-old record in the 200m butterfly.

Milak clocked 1:50.73 to win the finals of the 2019 World Championships, compared to Phelps' timing of 1:51.51. He wasn't done yet; 3 years later, at the 2022 World Championships, he broke his own record by clocking 1:50.34 to win the 200m butterfly event gold medal.

#3) Caeleb Dressel [USA - 100m butterfly]

Michael Phelps embracing Caeleb Dressel at Rio Olympics [Image Source: Getty]

Just like Kristof Milak, Caeleb Dressel broke Michael Phelps' record and then went even faster later.

At the 2019 World Championships held in Gwangju, Dressel clocked 49.50 seconds in the semifinals of the event to break the decade-old record of Phelps, who had clocked 49.82 at the World Championships held in Rome.

However, within 2 years, Dressel would break his own record to win the Olympic gold medal in the same event, clocking 49.45 to win the 100m butterfly.

#2) Ryan Lochte [USA - 200m Individual Medley]

Ryan Lochte at the 2011 World Championships [Image Source: Getty]

Ryan Lochte was one of the few swimmers who competed with Michael Phelps as an equal.

In the 2009 World Championships, Phelps did not take part in the 200m Individual Medley. But Lochte did, winning the event in style. He clocked 1:54.10 to win gold, beating the world record set by Phelps at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 at 1:54.23.

2 years later, Lochte defeated Phelps in an iconic race at the 2011 World Championships, breaking his record by clocking 1:54.00. Phelps came in 2nd, just 0.16 seconds behind Lochte.

#1) Paul Biedermann [Germany - 200m freestyle]

Paul Biedermann with the 200 m freestyle gold medal at the 2009 World Championships [Image Source: Getty]

This German never won an Olympic medal, but won 11 World Championship medals, including 7 medals in the long course races.

However, Paul Biedermann's best moment came at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. Biedermann had cruised into the finals of the 22m freestyle, where he was set to face the Olympic champion Phelps.

None were prepared for the surprise that was coming. Biedermann was ahead of Phelps by the halfway mark, and he won the gold medal by clocking 1:42.00, beating the previous record set by Phelps at 1:42.96. Phelps himself finished this race in 2nd with a time of 1:43.22.