Zirk had come close to overhauling the Estonian national record for the men's 400m freestyle in both of the previous two World Aquatics Championship events. In Singapore, he again performed well in the preliminaries, reaching the final as fifth fastest overall with a swim of 3 minutes 44.16 seconds.

"I secured my place in the final, which was the most important thing this morning," said Zirk after the preliminaries. "It was a very controlled swim like all the big names. In the final I would like to put in a tactically astute performance which could give me a time close to my personal best."

The fastest in the heats was reigning short course world champion Kieran Smith of the U.S.A. (3 minutes 41.21 seconds). Behind Smith, there was just 0.41 seconds separating second from seventh.  Olympic champion Duncan Scott of Great Britian was second quickest in a time of 3 minutes 43.98 seconds, with Australia's Ben Goedemans third in 3 minutes 44.08 seconds.

In the evening final, Zirk swam 3 minutes 40.60 seconds to shave 0.35 seconds off his own Estonian record for the event which he had held for the last three years.

In the final, Scott was crowned the winner with a time of 3 minutes 34.46 seconds.

Elsewhere in Singapore, Estonia's, swam 21.23 seconds in the final of the men's 50m freestyle, just 0.01 seconds slower than his own Estonia national record.

The final turned out to be extremely close, with less than half second between all eight competitors. Dylan Carter of Trinidad and Tobago (20.82 seconds) was the only one to break the 21-second barrier. He was followed by Australia's Isaac Cooper (21.01 seconds ) and Germany's Marius Kusch (21.04 seconds). Tribuntsov finished seventh.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!