400m Swim Times By Age And Ability

What is a good 400m swim time?

A good 400m time is 06:43 for men and 07:05 for women. This is the average 400m time across all ages. Compare your 400m time by age and ability below.

Our 400m swim time standards are based on 23,766 swimming results by Swimming Level users from 2021 to 2026. More...

How long does it take to swim 400m?

For an intermediate swimmer, the average time to swim 400m is 06:43 for men and 07:05 for women.

Time
100m
100yd

Swimming Level	Male	Female
Beginner	10:12	11:16
Novice	08:20	08:54
Intermediate	06:43	07:05
Advanced	05:25	05:44
Elite	04:23	04:45
WR	03:39.96	03:54.18

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

Swimming Level	Male	Female
Beginner	02:33.0	02:49.1
Novice	02:05.0	02:13.5
Intermediate	01:40.8	01:46.2
Advanced	01:21.2	01:26.0
Elite	01:05.8	01:11.3
WR	00:55.0	00:58.5

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

Swimming Level	Male	Female
Beginner	02:19.9	02:34.6
Novice	01:54.3	02:02.1
Intermediate	01:32.2	01:37.1
Advanced	01:14.2	01:18.6
Elite	01:00.2	01:05.2
WR	00:50.3	00:53.5

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

Male
Female

Male 400m Swimming Times

A good 400m time is 06:43 for men. This is the average time across all ages. The fastest 400m time is 03:39.96 for men.

Average 400m swim time by age and ability

Time
100m
100yd

Age	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite	Record
10	12:32	10:14	08:16	06:39	05:24	04:30.32
15	10:21	08:27	06:49	05:29	04:27	03:45.30
20	10:12	08:20	06:43	05:25	04:23	03:39.96
25	10:17	08:24	06:47	05:28	04:26	04:00.96
30	10:33	08:37	06:57	05:36	04:32	03:58.12
35	10:49	08:50	07:08	05:44	04:39	03:59.79
40	11:06	09:04	07:19	05:53	04:47	04:06.74
45	11:24	09:19	07:31	06:03	04:54	04:09.66
50	11:43	09:34	07:43	06:13	05:02	04:15.93
55	12:02	09:50	07:56	06:23	05:11	04:22.49
60	12:24	10:08	08:10	06:35	05:20	04:30.15
65	12:52	10:31	08:29	06:50	05:32	04:37.70
70	13:33	11:04	08:56	07:11	05:50	04:57.84
75	14:29	11:50	09:33	07:41	06:14	05:17.77
80	15:45	12:52	10:23	08:22	06:47	05:42.79
85	17:33	14:20	11:34	09:19	07:33	06:38.87
90	20:09	16:27	13:17	10:41	08:40	07:38.88

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

Age	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite	Record
10	03:08.0	02:33.6	02:03.9	01:39.8	01:20.9	01:07.6
15	02:35.2	02:06.7	01:42.3	01:22.3	01:06.8	00:56.3
20	02:33.0	02:05.0	01:40.8	01:21.2	01:05.8	00:55.0
25	02:34.4	02:06.1	01:41.8	01:21.9	01:06.4	01:00.2
30	02:38.2	02:09.2	01:44.3	01:23.9	01:08.1	00:59.5
35	02:42.2	02:12.5	01:46.9	01:26.1	01:09.8	00:59.9
40	02:46.5	02:16.0	01:49.7	01:28.3	01:11.6	01:01.7
45	02:50.9	02:19.6	01:52.7	01:30.7	01:13.6	01:02.4
50	02:55.6	02:23.5	01:55.8	01:33.2	01:15.6	01:04.0
55	03:00.6	02:27.5	01:59.1	01:35.9	01:17.7	01:05.6
60	03:06.0	02:31.9	02:02.6	01:38.7	01:20.0	01:07.5
65	03:13.1	02:37.8	02:07.3	01:42.5	01:23.1	01:09.4
70	03:23.2	02:46.0	02:14.0	01:47.9	01:27.5	01:14.5
75	03:37.2	02:57.4	02:23.2	01:55.3	01:33.5	01:19.4
80	03:56.3	03:13.1	02:35.8	02:05.4	01:41.7	01:25.7
85	04:23.2	03:35.0	02:53.5	02:19.7	01:53.3	01:39.7
90	05:02.2	04:06.9	03:19.2	02:40.4	02:10.0	01:54.7

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

Age	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite	Record
10	02:51.9	02:20.4	01:53.3	01:31.2	01:14.0	01:01.8
15	02:21.9	01:55.9	01:33.5	01:15.3	01:01.1	00:51.5
20	02:19.9	01:54.3	01:32.2	01:14.2	01:00.2	00:50.3
25	02:21.1	01:55.3	01:33.1	01:14.9	01:00.7	00:55.1
30	02:24.6	01:58.2	01:35.4	01:16.8	01:02.2	00:54.4
35	02:28.3	02:01.2	01:37.8	01:18.7	01:03.8	00:54.8
40	02:32.2	02:04.3	01:40.4	01:20.8	01:05.5	00:56.4
45	02:36.3	02:07.7	01:43.0	01:22.9	01:07.3	00:57.1
50	02:40.6	02:11.2	01:45.9	01:25.2	01:09.1	00:58.5
55	02:45.2	02:14.9	01:48.9	01:27.6	01:11.1	01:00.0
60	02:50.0	02:18.9	01:52.1	01:30.2	01:13.2	01:01.8
65	02:56.6	02:24.3	01:56.4	01:33.7	01:16.0	01:03.5
70	03:05.8	02:31.8	02:02.5	01:38.6	01:20.0	01:08.1
75	03:18.6	02:42.2	02:10.9	01:45.4	01:25.5	01:12.6
80	03:36.1	02:56.6	02:22.5	01:54.7	01:33.0	01:18.4
85	04:00.7	03:16.6	02:38.7	02:07.7	01:43.6	01:31.2
90	04:36.3	03:45.7	03:02.2	02:26.6	01:58.9	01:44.9

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

Female 400m Swimming Times

A good 400m time is 07:05 for women. This is the average time across all ages. The fastest 400m time is 03:54.18 for women.

Average 400m swim time by age and ability

Time
100m
100yd

Age	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite	Record
10	13:21	10:32	08:23	06:47	05:38	04:37.41
15	11:32	09:06	07:15	05:52	04:52	03:54.18
20	11:22	08:58	07:08	05:47	04:47	-
25	11:37	09:11	07:18	05:55	04:54	04:15.99
30	11:53	09:23	07:28	06:03	05:01	04:18.63
35	12:10	09:37	07:39	06:12	05:08	04:26.17
40	12:28	09:51	07:50	06:21	05:15	04:22.87
45	12:47	10:05	08:02	06:30	05:23	04:30.64
50	13:06	10:21	08:14	06:40	05:31	04:40.66
55	13:27	10:37	08:27	06:50	05:40	04:43.41
60	13:53	10:58	08:44	07:04	05:51	04:48.61
65	14:31	11:28	09:07	07:23	06:07	05:09.26
70	15:22	12:08	09:40	07:49	06:29	05:21.19
75	16:32	13:04	10:24	08:25	06:58	05:53.72
80	18:08	14:19	11:24	09:14	07:39	06:39.90
85	20:23	16:06	12:49	10:22	08:36	07:03.60
90	23:41	18:42	14:53	12:03	09:59	08:25.92

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

Age	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite	Record
10	03:20.3	02:38.1	02:05.8	01:41.9	01:24.4	01:09.4
15	02:53.0	02:16.6	01:48.7	01:28.0	01:12.9	00:58.5
20	02:50.5	02:14.6	01:47.1	01:26.7	01:11.8	-
25	02:54.3	02:17.6	01:49.5	01:28.7	01:13.5	01:04.0
30	02:58.4	02:20.8	01:52.1	01:30.7	01:15.2	01:04.7
35	03:02.6	02:24.2	01:54.7	01:32.9	01:17.0	01:06.5
40	03:07.0	02:27.7	01:57.5	01:35.1	01:18.8	01:05.7
45	03:11.7	02:31.4	02:00.5	01:37.5	01:20.8	01:07.7
50	03:16.6	02:35.2	02:03.5	01:40.0	01:22.9	01:10.2
55	03:21.7	02:39.3	02:06.8	01:42.6	01:25.0	01:10.9
60	03:28.4	02:44.5	02:10.9	01:46.0	01:27.8	01:12.2
65	03:37.7	02:51.9	02:16.8	01:50.8	01:31.8	01:17.3
70	03:50.6	03:02.1	02:24.9	01:57.3	01:37.2	01:20.3
75	04:08.1	03:15.9	02:35.9	02:06.2	01:44.6	01:28.4
80	04:32.1	03:34.8	02:51.0	02:18.4	01:54.7	01:40.0
85	05:05.8	04:01.5	03:12.2	02:35.6	02:08.9	01:45.9
90	05:55.2	04:40.4	03:43.2	03:00.7	02:29.7	02:06.5

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

Age	Beginner	Novice	Intermediate	Advanced	Elite	Record
10	03:03.1	02:24.6	01:55.1	01:33.2	01:17.2	01:03.4
15	02:38.2	02:04.9	01:39.4	01:20.5	01:06.7	00:53.5
20	02:35.9	02:03.1	01:37.9	01:19.3	01:05.7	-
25	02:39.4	02:05.9	01:40.2	01:21.1	01:07.2	00:58.5
30	02:43.1	02:08.8	01:42.5	01:23.0	01:08.7	00:59.1
35	02:47.0	02:11.8	01:44.9	01:24.9	01:10.4	01:00.8
40	02:51.0	02:15.0	01:47.5	01:27.0	01:12.1	01:00.1
45	02:55.3	02:18.4	01:50.2	01:29.2	01:13.9	01:01.9
50	02:59.8	02:21.9	01:53.0	01:31.4	01:15.8	01:04.2
55	03:04.5	02:25.6	01:55.9	01:33.8	01:17.8	01:04.8
60	03:10.5	02:30.4	01:59.7	01:36.9	01:20.3	01:06.0
65	03:19.1	02:37.2	02:05.1	01:41.3	01:23.9	01:10.7
70	03:30.9	02:46.5	02:12.5	01:47.3	01:28.9	01:13.4
75	03:46.9	02:59.1	02:22.6	01:55.4	01:35.6	01:20.9
80	04:08.8	03:16.4	02:36.4	02:06.6	01:44.9	01:31.4
85	04:39.6	03:40.8	02:55.7	02:22.3	01:57.9	01:36.8
90	05:24.8	04:16.4	03:24.1	02:45.2	02:16.9	01:55.7

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 400m swim time standards

Swimming Level analysed 5,733 qualifying results from 23,766 community results submitted by 13,419 Swimming Level users from 2021 to 2026 to produce our 400m swim time standards. We will continue to update them as more community data becomes available. See our standards timeline.

Community results	23,766
Community users	13,419
Qualifying results	5,733
Male results	3,982
Female results	1,751
Data start	30 December 2021
Data cutoff	13 October 2026
Model generated	14 October 2026

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

Previous standards (28 Sep 2023)

The old average finish time for 400m was 07:43 across all ages and genders, 07:28 for men (now 11.2% faster) and 08:02 for women (now 13.4% faster).

Male
Female

Level	Previous	Current	Change %
Beginner	11:53	10:12	-14.2%
Novice	09:29	08:20	-12.1%
Intermediate	07:28	06:43	-10.0%
Advanced	05:54	05:25	-8.2%
Elite	04:42	04:23	-6.6%

Level	Previous	Current	Change %
Beginner	12:09	11:16	-7.3%
Novice	09:56	08:54	-10.4%
Intermediate	08:02	07:05	-11.8%
Advanced	06:30	05:44	-11.8%
Elite	05:19	04:45	-10.5%

We created these previous standards on 30 December 2021 and last updated them 28 September 2023 (see archive.org).

400m World Records

Male 400m World Records (50m Pool)

Record	Age Category	Name	Time	Date	Age	Source
NR	10 & Under	Robert Legg	04:30.32	2026	-	USAS
NR	15-16	Luka Mijatovic	03:45.30	2025	-	USAS
WR	20-24	Lukas Maertens	03:39.96	12 Apr 2025	23	WA1
WR	25-29	Aleksandr Fedorov	04:00.96	5 Jun 2022	-	WA2
WR	30-34	Darian Townsend	03:58.12	23 Jul 2016	-	WA2
WR	35-39	Shogo Hihara	03:59.79	21 Sep 2025	-	WA2
WR	40-44	Erik Hochstein	04:06.74	24 Jul 2009	-	WA2
WR	45-49	Rodrigo Castro	04:09.66	24 Nov 2023	-	WA2
WR	50-54	Nicolas Granger	04:15.93	4 Aug 2017	-	WA2
WR	55-59	Michael Mann	04:22.49	25 Jul 2009	-	WA2
WR	60-64	Juan Carlos Vallejo	04:30.15	19 Jun 2023	-	WA2
WR	65-69	Rick Colella	04:37.70	4 Aug 2017	-	WA2
WR	70-74	Rick Colella	04:57.84	1 Jul 2023	-	WA2
WR	75-79	David Radcliff	05:17.77	7 Mar 2009	-	WA2
WR	80-84	Chris Dunn	05:42.79	18 Jan 2026	-	WA2
WR	85-89	Graham Johnston	06:38.87	26 Jun 2016	-	WA2
WR	90-94	Katsura Suzuki	07:38.88	2 Oct 2022	-	WA2

Female 400m World Records (50m Pool)

Record	Age Category	Name	Time	Date	Age	Source
NR	10 & Under	Claire Tuggle	04:37.41	2015	-	USAS
WR	15-19	Summer McIntosh	03:54.18	7 Jun 2025	18	WA1
WR	25-29	Lea Boy	04:15.99	5 Jul 2025	-	WA2
WR	30-34	Dawn Heckman	04:18.63	16 Jul 2011	-	WA2
WR	35-39	Karlyn Pipes	04:26.17	10 Aug 1997	-	WA2
WR	40-44	Janet Evans	04:22.87	13 Aug 2011	-	WA2
WR	45-49	Heidi George	04:30.64	14 Apr 2023	-	WA2
WR	50-54	Jill Hernandez	04:40.66	11 Aug 2013	-	WA2
WR	55-59	Lynn Marshall	04:43.41	10 Jul 2016	-	WA2
WR	60-64	Ellen Reynolds	04:48.61	25 Aug 2024	-	WA2
WR	65-69	Kelly Parker Palace	05:09.26	20 Jun 2026	-	WA2
WR	70-74	Laura Val	05:21.19	13 Aug 2022	-	WA2
WR	75-79	Charlotte Davis	05:53.72	8 Aug 2025	-	WA2
WR	80-84	Jane Asher	06:39.90	5 May 2012	-	WA2
WR	85-89	Jane Asher	07:03.60	15 Oct 2016	-	WA2
WR	90-94	Jane Asher	08:25.92	5 Mar 2022	-	WA2

References for WRs:

USAS: USA Swimming (via Pacific Swimming). "National age-group records." Accessed 7 Oct 2026. https://www.pacswim.org/swim-meet-times/records.
WA1: World Aquatics. "Swimming world records." Accessed 30 Sep 2026. https://www.worldaquatics.com/swimming/records.
WA2: World Aquatics. "Masters world records." Accessed 30 Sep 2026. https://www.worldaquatics.com/masters/records.

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400m Swim Times

Swimming Standards By Age And Ability

What is a good 400m swim time?

How long does it take to swim 400m?

Male 400m Swimming Times

Average 400m swim time by age and ability

Female 400m Swimming Times

Average 400m swim time by age and ability

What do the swimming standards mean?

Data behind the 400m swim time standards

Previous standards (28 Sep 2023)

400m World Records

Male 400m World Records (50m Pool)

Female 400m World Records (50m Pool)

References for WRs:

More Distances

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