FLASH! Leon Marchand Annihilates 200 IM World Record, Skipping Past 1:53 With 1:52.69 in Semifinals
The great Leon Marchand has struck again. A 14-year-old world record in the men’s 200 individual medley has been confined to history by an enormous margin as Marchand put forth a historic effort in Wednesday’s semifinals.
The 23-year-old Frenchman had clearly stated that the global standard in the 200 IM was his primary target for this year’s World Championships. After falling six hundredths short of a long-standing mark held by Ryan Lochte at the Paris Olympics, Marchand dropped the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke from his schedule for this meet. The goal, his coaches said, was to see what was capable when he was fully fresh for the shorter medley.
Now we know. Swimmers had been seeking a 1:53 since 2011, but Marchand skipped right over that time and reached 1:52-territory. Choosing to strike for the world record in the semifinal, Marchand was more a second under Lochte’s pace the entire race, the superimposed world record time at his feet. He finished in 1:52.69 to wipe 1.31 seconds from the record.
“I actually can’t really believe it right now. I knew I was going to get close to my PB because I felt really good today, and the preparation has been pretty good, so I was really excited to race. It’s unbelievable for me,” Marchand said. “What’s crazy is that it’s a whole second, and it’s still hard to believe. A 1:52 in the 200, that’s insane. I’m so happy. It’s just incredible.”
Marchand had some help in setting the early pace as Shaine Casas, an American in his training group at the University of Texas, showed his usual early speed by going out in 23.88, just ahead of Marchand’s 24.10, with both men far clear of the 24.89 from Lochte’s best swim. By the halfway point, Marchand had opened up a substantial lead, and as he propelled himself down the breaststroke leg, it was clear that a historic swim was in the offing.
He was almost two seconds under record pace at the 150-meter mark, so it was irrelevant that his 28.06 freestyle leg was more than a half-second slower than Lochte’s.
The splits:
- Marchand (2025): 24.10, 52.50 (28.40), 1:24.63 (32.13), 1:52.69 (28.06)
- Lochte (2011): 24.89, 53.48 (28.59), 1:26.51 (33.03), 1:54.00 (27.49)
Marchand now enters the final as an enormous favorite to back up his titles from 2022 and 2023 and perhaps take another chunk from that world record. This performance has also raised questions as to whether he could take a lopsided amount of his own world mark in the 400 IM, a 4:02.50 clocked two years ago in Fukuoka, on the final day of the meet.
“I had talked with (coaches) Bob (Bowman) and Nico (Castel), and we agreed that tonight was the time to go for it. In the end, I went out hard from the start, but I stayed super relaxed. My underwaters were really hitting 15 meters every time, and I didn’t make many mistakes. I didn’t realize I was going that fast, but I gave it absolutely everything,” Marchand said.
“It’s just an explosion of joy. I feel like all the choices I made this year were the right ones, and I want to thank everyone who’s been supporting me. Since the Games, I’ve had this goal in mind. I didn’t expect things to come together again so quickly. Right now, I’m trying to get some good sleep — which isn’t easy — but tomorrow’s the final, and it’s going to be great.”
Castel commented with the highest of praise and awe. “The plan after the heats was for him to go all out for the first 150 meters, and then, at the end of the 150, decide whether to push all the way or not,” Castel said. “What he did today was stratospheric. It’s exceptional. It was a great race — truly classic Leon. Just incredible.”
Lochte offered his congratulations later in the day in a post on Instagram.
Marchand now sits in his own world in the medley events, but two further medals will be awarded in Thursday’s final. Perhaps buoyed by Marchand’s absurd pace, the two swimmers on either side of him in the second semifinal set themselves up in strong positions. Casas placed second in 1:55.13, his best time by 0.11 and good for No. 6 on the all-time list. Casas ranks third all-time in this event among Americans behind Lochte and Michael Phelps.
Duncan Scott, the British swimmer who has won silver in the event at the last two Olympics, placed third in 1:55.51, his time just off his best of 1:55.28 that ranks No. 9 all-time. Scott does improve to third in this year’s world rankings as he seeks another medal finish here.
Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, the Olympic silver medalist in the 400 IM behind Marchand, came from behind to win the first semifinal in 1:57.11, good for the fourth-best time. Matsushita beat two further members of the University of Texas training group, Hungary’s Hubert Kos (1:57.22) and the United States’ Carson Foster (1:57.49). They qualified fifth and eighth, respectively, but Foster cannot be discounted from a medal run as he is the only other swimmer to go 1:55 this year. He competed in this semifinal shortly after racing in the 200 fly final.
New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt took sixth (1:57.29) while Tokyo Olympic champion Wang Shun of China was seventh (1:57.48). Wang and Foster were barely quick enough to knock Japan’s Kosuke Makino (1:57.51) and Italy’s Alberto Razzetti (1:57.53) out of the top-eight.
- Swimming World Meet Page
- Psych Sheet
- Meet Results
- Day-by-Day Schedule
- U.S. TV/Streaming Coverage
- How to Watch
- World Aquatics Homepage
