How Johannes Liebmann Is Changing the 1500 Freestyle
At the 2026 European Championships, 19-year-old German Johannes Liebmann stunned the world as he smashed the 1500 freestyle world record by almost four seconds, going 14:26.79. The record was previously held by Bobby Finke from his 2024 Olympic gold medal-winning swim. Liebmann’s swim was not only impressive because of the time, but it showed how the men’s 1500 strategy has evolved over time.
Race Strategy
The men’s 1500 freestyle can be attack in a variety of ways. In 2001, Grant Hackett was the first person to ever break the 14:40 mark. His strategy was to take the race out fast and hold on. Hackett held a very high tempo the whole race, with his average stroke count around 33 per 50 meters.
In 2012, Sun Yang of China swam to a 14:31.02, breaking the world record by three seconds. Sun’s strategy looked much different than Hackett’s. His stroke count was around 26-27 every 50, showing a maximum amount of efficiency. Yang’s stroke was long, with very limited kick until the last 100 meters, where he upped his tempo. The strategy of a lower stroke count is one that you see more in a longer race. The higher the tempo, the easier it is to run out of energy in the closing stages of a race. With Sun’s high level of efficiency, he showed that a world record is possible with an extremely low stroke count. Efficiency like this is rarely seen, and the ability Sun had to swim fast with an extremely low number of strokes is one that may never be seen again.
At the Paris Olympics, Finke broke what seemed to be an untouchable world record. His strategy of utilizing a high stroke count went completely against the Sun strategy. Finke averaged around 34 strokes a length, the highest of the last four world-record holders in this event. Finke showed that it is not just a high tempo that can be maintained the whole race. In his 14:30.67 swim, Finke had a strong kick throughout the race. Even though he had a fast tempo like Hackett, Finke had the kick that Hackett and Yang didn’t use.
On Saturday, Liebmann showed how this race has evolved, as he delivered a perfect mix of everything the previous world record holders did well. Liebmann averaged a stroke count of 31 per 50 meters while maintaining a strong kick the whole race. With a higher tempo, but still employing a catchup freestyle stroke, Liebmann found the ideal tempo. A stroke count of 31 lands him in the middle of Sun and Finke, yet he still managed to hold his kick throughout. When breaking a world record by four seconds, everything needs to go right, and Liebmann’s efficiency and kick were almost perfect.
Splits
Liebmann did what most struggle to do in the 1500: Take the race out fast and hold it. His first 400 of 3:48.4 made him the first world-record holder to go out under 3:50. Throughout the race, he clocked 28.90-29.2 every length. His last 50 was a 27.4, showing that even with a hard push during the race, he still had enough energy for one final kick.
Sun and Finke held around the same in their 50 splits. They landed in the range of 29.2-29.5. What they have that Liebmann does not is a blistering final 100. Yang and Finke split 53.5 and 55.3, respectively, in the final 100 of their world record swims. Liebmann’s last 100 was 56.2. The scariest part of a swim that is this historic is that there is still room to improvement. If Liebmann can find more speed, not only will it help his 400 and 800, but it will also help improve his last 100-200 meters in the 1500. A split of 55 on the last 100 would put Liebmann in the 14:25 range, and any faster during the race, the world record could come close to the 14:20 barrier.
Everything about Liebmann’s swim shows how the 1500 has evolved. His near-perfect tempo gave him maximum efficiency. His splits were almost identical on every 50, and he took the race out faster than anyone ever has. Liebmann is only 19 and has not reached his peak. If he can find that extra kick at the end, the 1500 freestyle world record could belong to the German for a long time to come.
