PARIS: Olympic champion Lukas Maertens of Germany on Saturday broke the men's 400-metre freestyle world record dating back to 2009 at the Stockholm Open.
The 23-year-old clocked 3min 39.96sec to shave 0.11sec off the mark achieved by fellow German Paul Biedermann at the world championships in Rome in July 2009.
Biedermann's mark of 3:40.07 was achieved wearing a polyurethane swimsuit that has since been banned in competition.
Maertens, who won Olympic gold over the distance in Paris last year in 3:41.78, had until now a personal best time of 3:40.33 in the 400m freestyle, achieved at the 2024 German championships.