3800m Swim Times

Swimming Standards By Age And Ability

What is a good 3800m swim time?

A good 3800m time is 01:09:04 for men and 01:17:28 for women. This is the average 3800m time across all ages. Compare your 3800m time by age and ability below.

How long does it take to swim 3800m?

For an intermediate swimmer, the average time to swim 3800m is 01:09:04 for men and 01:17:28 for women.

Swimming LevelMaleFemale
Beginner01:49:5102:02:12
Novice01:27:1101:37:35
Intermediate01:09:0401:17:28
Advanced55:1101:01:49
Elite44:5250:02

Time: Finish time for the full distance (seconds below a minute, otherwise mm:ss or hh:mm:ss).

Swimming LevelMaleFemale
Beginner02:53.403:12.9
Novice02:17.702:34.1
Intermediate01:49.002:02.3
Advanced01:27.101:37.6
Elite01:10.801:19.0

100m: Average pace per 100 metres, shown in minutes and seconds (mm:ss.s).

Swimming LevelMaleFemale
Beginner02:38.602:56.4
Novice02:05.902:20.9
Intermediate01:39.701:51.9
Advanced01:19.701:29.2
Elite01:04.801:12.2

100yd: Average pace per 100 yards, shown in minutes and seconds (mm:ss.s).

BeginnerNoviceIntermediateAdvancedElite5%20%50%80%95%01:49:5101:27:1101:09:0455:1144:52Finish Time - 3800m

Male 3800m Swimming Times

A good 3800m time is 01:09:04 for men. This is the average time across all ages.

Average 3800m swim time by age and ability

AgeBeginnerNoviceIntermediateAdvancedElite
1002:16:0301:47:5801:25:3201:08:2155:34
1501:54:0101:30:2901:11:4157:1646:34
2001:49:5701:27:1601:09:0855:1444:55
2501:50:3301:27:4401:09:3055:3245:09
3001:51:1001:28:1401:09:5455:5145:25
3501:51:4901:28:4401:10:1856:1045:40
4001:52:2801:29:1501:10:4356:3045:56
4501:55:0401:31:1901:12:2057:4847:00
5001:57:5501:33:3501:14:0859:1448:10
5502:00:5501:35:5801:16:0201:00:4549:24
6002:04:0501:38:2901:18:0101:02:2050:41
6502:07:4501:41:2301:20:1901:04:1052:11
7002:13:2801:45:5501:23:5501:07:0354:31
7502:22:0101:52:4201:29:1701:11:2058:00
8002:34:2602:02:3401:37:0601:17:3501:03:05
8502:52:3702:16:5901:48:3101:26:4201:10:30
9003:20:1102:38:5202:05:5101:40:3301:21:46

Time: Finish time for the full distance (seconds below a minute, otherwise mm:ss or hh:mm:ss).

AgeBeginnerNoviceIntermediateAdvancedElite
1003:34.802:50.502:15.101:47.901:27.7
1503:00.002:22.901:53.201:30.401:13.5
2002:53.602:17.801:49.201:27.201:10.9
2502:54.602:18.501:49.701:27.701:11.3
3002:55.502:19.301:50.401:28.201:11.7
3502:56.502:20.101:51.001:28.701:12.1
4002:57.602:20.901:51.601:29.201:12.5
4503:01.702:24.201:54.201:31.301:14.2
5003:06.202:27.801:57.101:33.501:16.0
5503:10.902:31.502:00.001:35.901:18.0
6003:15.902:35.502:03.201:38.401:20.0
6503:21.702:40.102:06.801:41.301:22.4
7003:30.702:47.202:12.501:45.901:26.1
7503:44.202:58.002:21.001:52.601:31.6
8004:03.903:13.502:33.302:02.501:39.6
8504:32.503:36.302:51.302:16.901:51.3
9005:16.104:10.903:18.702:38.802:09.1

100m: Average pace per 100 metres, shown in minutes and seconds (mm:ss.s).

AgeBeginnerNoviceIntermediateAdvancedElite
1003:16.402:35.902:03.501:38.701:20.2
1502:44.602:10.601:43.501:22.701:07.2
2002:38.802:06.001:39.801:19.701:04.8
2502:39.602:06.701:40.401:20.201:05.2
3002:40.502:07.401:40.901:20.601:05.6
3502:41.402:08.101:41.501:21.101:05.9
4002:42.402:08.901:42.101:21.601:06.3
4502:46.102:11.801:44.401:23.401:07.9
5002:50.302:15.101:47.001:25.501:09.5
5502:54.602:18.601:49.801:27.701:11.3
6002:59.202:22.201:52.601:30.001:13.2
6503:04.402:26.401:56.001:32.601:15.3
7003:12.702:32.902:01.101:36.801:18.7
7503:25.002:42.702:08.901:43.001:23.7
8003:43.002:57.002:20.201:52.001:31.1
8504:09.203:17.802:36.702:05.201:41.8
9004:49.003:49.403:01.702:25.201:58.1

100yd: Average pace per 100 yards, shown in minutes and seconds (mm:ss.s).

Female 3800m Swimming Times

A good 3800m time is 01:17:28 for women. This is the average time across all ages.

Average 3800m swim time by age and ability

AgeBeginnerNoviceIntermediateAdvancedElite
1002:15:1101:47:5701:25:4201:08:2355:21
1502:04:4701:39:3801:19:0701:03:0751:05
2002:02:1201:37:3501:17:2801:01:4950:02
2502:02:4501:38:0101:17:4901:02:0550:15
3002:03:2901:38:3601:18:1701:02:2850:33
3502:04:1501:39:1301:18:4601:02:5150:52
4002:05:0201:39:5001:19:1601:03:1451:11
4502:05:5101:40:2901:19:4701:03:3951:31
5002:07:1001:41:3301:20:3701:04:1952:04
5502:10:1701:44:0201:22:3601:05:5453:20
6002:15:3201:48:1401:25:5601:08:3355:29
6502:23:4301:54:4501:31:0701:12:4158:50
7002:36:0302:04:3601:38:5601:18:5501:03:53
7502:52:2702:17:4201:49:2001:27:1301:10:36
8003:13:2702:34:2802:02:3901:37:5101:19:12
8503:41:1502:56:4002:20:1601:51:5501:30:35
9004:19:4103:27:2102:44:3802:11:2101:46:19

Time: Finish time for the full distance (seconds below a minute, otherwise mm:ss or hh:mm:ss).

AgeBeginnerNoviceIntermediateAdvancedElite
1003:33.502:50.402:15.301:48.001:27.4
1503:17.002:37.302:04.901:39.701:20.7
2003:12.902:34.102:02.301:37.601:19.0
2503:13.802:34.802:02.901:38.001:19.3
3003:15.002:35.702:03.601:38.601:19.8
3503:16.202:36.602:04.401:39.201:20.3
4003:17.402:37.602:05.201:39.901:20.8
4503:18.702:38.702:06.001:40.501:21.3
5003:20.802:40.302:07.301:41.601:22.2
5503:25.702:44.302:10.401:44.001:24.2
6003:34.002:50.902:15.701:48.201:27.6
6503:46.903:01.202:23.901:54.801:32.9
7004:06.403:16.702:36.202:04.601:40.9
7504:32.303:37.402:52.602:17.701:51.5
8005:05.404:03.903:13.602:34.502:05.0
8505:49.304:39.003:41.502:56.702:23.0
9006:50.005:27.404:20.003:27.402:47.9

100m: Average pace per 100 metres, shown in minutes and seconds (mm:ss.s).

AgeBeginnerNoviceIntermediateAdvancedElite
1003:15.202:35.802:03.701:38.701:19.9
1503:00.202:23.901:54.201:31.101:13.8
2002:56.402:20.901:51.901:29.201:12.2
2502:57.202:21.501:52.401:29.601:12.6
3002:58.302:22.401:53.001:30.201:13.0
3502:59.402:23.201:53.701:30.701:13.4
4003:00.502:24.101:54.401:31.301:13.9
4503:01.702:25.101:55.201:31.901:14.4
5003:03.602:26.601:56.401:32.901:15.2
5503:08.102:30.201:59.301:35.101:17.0
6003:15.702:36.302:04.101:39.001:20.1
6503:27.502:45.702:11.501:44.901:24.9
7003:45.302:59.902:22.801:54.001:32.2
7504:09.003:18.802:37.802:05.901:41.9
8004:39.303:43.002:57.102:21.301:54.3
8505:19.404:15.103:22.502:41.602:10.8
9006:14.904:59.403:57.703:09.602:33.5

100yd: Average pace per 100 yards, shown in minutes and seconds (mm:ss.s).

What do the swimming standards mean?

Beginner Faster than 5% of swimmers.
Novice Faster than 20% of swimmers.
Intermediate Faster than 50% of swimmers.
Advanced Faster than 80% of swimmers.
Elite Faster than 95% of swimmers.

Strength Level introduced these exact Beginner-to-Elite percentile boundaries in 2015. See how the standards evolved.

Data behind the 3800m swim time standards

Swimming Level analysed 124 qualifying results from 2,486 community results submitted by 1,170 Swimming Level users from 2022 to 2026 to produce our 3800m swim time standards. We will continue to update them as more community data becomes available. See our standards timeline.

Community results 2,486
Community users 1,170
Qualifying results 124
Male results 113
Female results 11
Data start
Data cutoff
Model generated

Qualifying results are retained after checks for implausible data, duplicates, and unusual or automated submission patterns. Learn more about qualifying results.

Previous standards ()

The old average finish time for 3800m was 01:18:35 across all ages and genders, 01:15:56 for men (now 9.9% faster) and 01:22:07 for women (now 6.0% faster).

LevelPreviousCurrentChange %
Beginner02:00:4801:49:51-9.1%
Novice01:36:1701:27:11-9.5%
Intermediate01:15:5601:09:04-9.0%
Advanced59:5255:11-7.8%
Elite47:4344:52-6.0%
LevelPreviousCurrentChange %
Beginner02:04:1402:02:12-1.6%
Novice01:41:3001:37:35-3.9%
Intermediate01:22:0701:17:28-5.7%
Advanced01:06:2601:01:49-7.0%
Elite54:1750:02-7.8%

We created these previous standards on and last updated them (see archive.org).

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