Following is the evolution of the men's 400m individual medley world record since 1987:

4:15.42: Tamas Darnyi, Hungary, 19/08/87 at Strasbourg, France

4:14.75: Tamas Darnyi, Hungary, 21/09/88 at Seoul, South Korea

4:12.36: Tamas Darnyi, Hungary, 08/01/91 at Perth, Australia

4:12.30: Tom Dolan, United States, O6/09/94 at Rome, Italy

4:11.76: Tom Dolan, United States, 17/09/00 at Sydney, Australia

4:11.09: Michael Phelps, United States, 15/08/02 at Fort Lauderdale, United States

4:10.73: Michael Phelps, United States, 06/04/03 at Indianapolis, United States

4:09.09: Michael Phelps, United States, 27/07/03 at Barcelona, Spain

4:08.41: Michael Phelps, United States, 07/07/04 at Long Beach, United States

4:08.26: Michael Phelps, United States, 14/08/05 at Athens, Greece