Rome, July 26 (DPA) South Korean defending champion Park Taehwan Sunday failed to make it to the finals of the men's 400 metres freestyle at the world championships in Rome.

Park, who also took the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics last year, finished in a time of 3 minutes 46.04 seconds, placing him 12th - far off the pace of the eight-fastest swimmers who made the final.

The fastest time in the heats was swum by German Paul Biedermann, who swam a time of 3:43.01, setting a new European record.