Nadadore Swimmer Sets a World Mark : Poland’s Wojdat Wins in 400 Freestyle

Artur Wojdat of the Mission Viejo Nadadores broke the world record in the 400-meter freestyle Friday in the U.S. Indoor Swimming Championships at Orlando, Fla.

Wojdat, a native of Poland, completed the race in 3 minutes 47.38 seconds, breaking the record of 3:47.80 set by Michael Gross of West Germany in 1985.

Just minutes after Wojdat set the record, Tom Jager, a graduate of UCLA, broke his own world record in the 50-meter freestyle in 22.23.

Wojdat is the first Pole to hold a world record in swimming.

“I had a dream last night that my family (in Poland) was watching the news, the guy on the news said I broke the world record in the 400,” Wojdat, who came to Mission Viejo from Poznan in 1985, told the Orlando Sentinel.

“I really don’t think about setting world records. It was a really a big surprise for me.”

Wojdat’s previous best time in the event was 3:51.12 last summer at the European championships. But before that meet, he was suffering from an injured ankle.

“Last summer I had twisted my left ankle 10 days before the championships,” Wojdat said. “I had the cast removed three days before the meet, so I didn’t swim as well as I could have.”

It was his third victory of the week. On Tuesday, he won the 800-meter freestyle, and on Thursday, he won the 200-meter freestyle.

Wojdat’s was the second of three world records set at the meet, which will end today. Two of the records have been set by Orange County residents.

On Tuesday, Janet Evans of El Dorado High School swam 8:17.12 in the 800-meter freestyle, breaking the record held by Akne Mohring of East Germany. Evans posted her third victory of the meet Friday, winning the 400-meter freestyle in a meet-record time of 4:07.32, a victory margin of more than 5 1/2 seconds.

Dara Torres of Beverly Hills set two American records. She broke the mark in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 25.59 seconds in the morning preliminaries and set the mark in the 100-meter freestyle on the opening leg of the 400-meter freestyle relay.

Jager, a native of Collinsville, Ill., had finished second in the 100-meter freestyle Thursday. “I was pleasantly surprised,” he said. “I didn’t do as I wanted to in the 100 (freestyle), which gave me the incentive to do real well in the 50.”