The silver went to Kosuke Hagino in 3:44.82, his first medal at World Championships; the 18-year-old Japanese swimmer had been bronze medallist at the 2012 Games in the 400m IM, and improved in Barcelona his personal best of 3:45.42. Connor Jaeger (USA) got the bronze in 3:44.85, also a first for him at this level. Ryan Cochrane (CAN) couldn’t reach the podium: the 2011 silver medallist in the 800m and 1500m free was fourth in 3:45.02.
World Record: Paul Biedermann (GER), 3:40.07 – July 26, 2009 in Rome (ITA)
Championships Record: Paul Biedermann (GER), 3:40.07 – July 26, 2009 in Rome (ITA)
Best performance of the current season (since January 2013): Yang Sun (CHN), 3:41.59 – July 28, 2013 in Barcelona (ESP)
2003-2011 winners in this event: 2003 – Ian Thorpe (AUS, 3:42.58); 2005 – Grant Hackett (AUS, 3:42.91); 2007 – Tae-Hwan Park (KOR, 3:44.30); 2009 – Paul Biedermann (GER, 3:40.07); 2011 – Tae-Hwan Park (KOR, 3:42.04)
The best in this event (1. most victories or 2. fastest time): Ian Thorpe (AUS, 1998, 2001 & 2003)
2012 Olympic podium: 1. Yang Sun (CHN, 3:40.14), 2. Tae-Hwan Park (KOR, 3:42.06), 3. Peter Vanderkaay (USA, 3:44.69)
QUOTES:
Gold medal winner: Sun Yang (CHN)
"This is an important medal for me, I have overcome many problems this year and tonight I still won a gold medal so I give all my appreciation to the people who are supporting me."
"I am very satisfied with my performance tonight, I hope to have an even better performance in the coming days."
"My challenge is to come back to my best level."
Silver medal winner: Kosuke Hagino (JPN)
"I'm actually not satisfied with the time but to get the silver medal is a good result, I felt great in the water, so I'm happy."
Bronze medal winner: Connor Jaeger (USA)
"It's my first international medal and I really feel like I won. The atmosphere and the adrenaline were incredible. It's the first medal for Team USA and I hope more medals come soon."