HOW LONG HAVE THE SUPER-SUITED WORLD RECORDS LASTED IN SCM?

2024 Short Course World Championships

During the fourth day of the 2024 World Short Course Championships in Budapest, seven world records were broken. Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh continue to amaze, as they have been registering astonishing performances. Regan Smith set her first world record of this meet, and the United States’ team demolished the men’s 4×200 freestyle global standard.

In fact, there have been many records this week. So far, 18 new world records have been set in Budapest, which ties the 2008 SCM Worlds as the second-most world records set in one edition, only behind the 2014 SCM Worlds with 23.

But perhaps the most surprising world record was set by Luke Hobson. Leading off the 4×200 freestyle relay, he broke the men’s 200 freestyle WR in a 1:38.91, surpassing the 1:39.37 set back in 2009 by German’s Paul Biedermann.

Biedermann’s swim was not only the oldest SCM world record, but it also was the last one set in a super suit still standing.

In the height of the super suits’ era, 53 world records were set in SCM in 2008 and 71 were set in 2009. For the sake of comparison, no other year has ever seen more than 40 world records. Every individual event had its SCM world record reset at least once in those two years, with the sole exception of the men’s 1500 freestyle.

Super-suits were created using polyurethane and led to a truly exceptional amount of world records in the two years they were worn. In 2010, World Aquatics banned those suits for good. Now, swimsuits have to be made with only textile materials, no polyurethane.

Some super-suited world records did not last long. For example, the men’s 200 and 400 IM global standards were broken during the 2010 World Short Course Championships by Ryan Lochte and lasted only one year. But many of them survived for many years.

Interestingly, the oldest women’s world record in SCM also was broken during the 2024 SCM Worlds. In the first day of competition, Gretchen Walsh swam a 24.02 in the women’s 50 butterfly to break Therese Alshammar‘s WR from 2009.

In the graphs below, you will find how many years each super-suited world record lasted, from the first one broken by Ryan Lochte in the men’s 400 IM in 2010 until the last one broken by Luke Hobson in the men’s 200 freestyle in Budapest.

Duration of each super-suited women’s SCM individual world record:

Duration of each super-suited men’s SCM individual world record:

Interestingly, though Paul Biedermann‘s 200 freestyle WR lasted 15 years and 28 days, and it was not the one that lasted the longest. Last year, Daniel Wiffen broke the men’s 800 freestyle world record, which was owned by Grant Hackett since 2008 and lasted 15 years and 143 days.

Also, the graphs show that the men’s super-suited world record lasted more, in average, than the women’s world records. In fact, by the end of 2016, there were only two women’s super-suited WR, and they were broken this year by Kate Douglass (200 breaststroke) and Gretchen Walsh (50 butterfly). On the other hand, six men’s super-suited WR still stood in 2016.

The super suits era, at least in terms of SCM world records, is gone. In LCM, there is still a long way to go, as eight world records remain. How long will they last?