NCAA Men’s Championships: Leon Marchand Destroys NCAA Record in 3:28.82 in 400 IM

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Men’s Championships: Leon Marchand Destroys NCAA Record in 3:28.82 in 400 IM

It may have been stunned silence in the Jean K. Freeman Aquatics Center Friday night for the 400 individual medley. When Leon Marchand hit the wall, it was certainly incredulity that rippled through the crowd.

The all-conquering sophomore obliterated his NCAA record in the 400 IM, blasting a time of 3:28.82. It’s 4.08 seconds quicker than what Hugo Gonzalez used last year to set a meet record.

“I didn’t believe what I was seeing,” Marchand said. “I was like, ’28, is that an actual time?’”

Marchand’s splits:

47.01 – 52.20 – 58.59 – 50.93

Gonzalez was second in 3:34.66, with Carson Foster of Texas third.

His time is an NCAA, pool, U.S. Open and everything record.

Any thoughts of a repeat of last year, when Gonzalez pulled a wild surprise to top Marchand and needed an NCAA record to it, were trounced early. Marchand was a second up after 100 yards and nearly three clear of the field at the halfway point. The 200 breaststroker surely never looked back, his front having gotten even more elite this year.

His splits at NCAAs last year:

48.92 – 54.79 – 1:00.66 – 49.73 – 3:34.08

And in his NCAA record at Pac-12s:

48.20 – 54.19 – 59.08 – 50.10 – 3:31.57

The backstroke split in particular stood out to Marchand, two seconds quicker than at the conference meet. Much like the 200 IM, Marchand attacked the front half.

“It was definitely harder than the 2IM,” he said. “In freestyle, that was so painful at the end. I did it many, many times in practice, so I’m kind of used to it. And when I saw the time, I was very surprised.”

Gonzalez finished second in 3:34.66, with Carson Foster of Texas third for a second straight year in 3:36.02. Hubert Kos of Arizona State provided a huge boost by going 3:37.00 to take fourth, though Cal’s Jason Louser minimized the damage by finishing fifth. Neither Jake Foster nor David Johnston of Texas was able to get under 3:40 in finishing seventh and eighth, respective. (Foster was fifth and Johnston seventh last year.)

In between was Georgia’s Ian Grum in sixth.

That keeps Arizona State within 17 points of California in the team race.

Baylor Nelson jumped out to the lead in the B final for the first 300 yards only to see David Schlicht of Arizona State overtake him on freestyle. Those are bonus points for the Sun Devils, the sophomore popping up a spot from 11th in the morning. Schlicht went 3:38.03, followed by Nelson .08 behind as he clocked ground. Mason Laur of Florida was 11th overall, while Jack Hoagland went from 16th in prelims to 12th overall.

 Event 8  Men 400 Yard IM
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 3:31.57  3/3/2023  Leon Marchand, Arizona St
         Meet: M 3:32.88  3/25/2022 Hugo Gonzalez, California
     American: A 3:33.42  3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
   U. S. Open: O 3:31.57  3/3/2023  Leon Marchand, Arizona St
         Pool: P 3:34.47  3/24/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Marchand, Leon         SO ASU               3:34.47    3:28.82N  20  
    r:+0.67  21.84        47.10 (25.26)
        1:13.22 (26.12)     1:39.30 (26.08)
        2:08.37 (29.07)     2:37.89 (29.52)
        3:03.99 (26.10)     3:28.82 (24.83)
  2 Gonzalez, Hugo         5Y California        3:35.86    3:34.66   17  
    r:+0.63  22.09        48.00 (25.91)
        1:15.26 (27.26)     1:42.43 (27.17)
        2:12.93 (30.50)     2:43.94 (31.01)
        3:10.04 (26.10)     3:34.66 (24.62)
  3 Foster, Carson         JR Texas             3:36.38    3:36.02   16  
    r:+0.66  22.56        48.44 (25.88)
        1:15.55 (27.11)     1:42.15 (26.60)
        2:12.99 (30.84)     2:44.45 (31.46)
        3:10.69 (26.24)     3:36.02 (25.33)
  4 Kos, Hubert            FR ASU               3:36.86    3:37.00   15  
    r:+0.60  22.67        49.93 (27.26)
        1:16.76 (26.83)     1:43.27 (26.51)
        2:13.54 (30.27)     2:45.33 (31.79)
        3:11.62 (26.29)     3:37.00 (25.38)
  5 Louser, Jason          SR California        3:38.19    3:38.69   14  
    r:+0.69  23.07        50.09 (27.02)
        1:17.98 (27.89)     1:45.37 (27.39)
        2:15.36 (29.99)     2:45.84 (30.48)
        3:12.99 (27.15)     3:38.69 (25.70)
  6 Grum, Ian              SR Georgia           3:38.75    3:38.99   13  
    r:+0.56  22.45        48.30 (25.85)
        1:15.85 (27.55)     1:42.76 (26.91)
        2:14.93 (32.17)     2:47.23 (32.30)
        3:13.33 (26.10)     3:38.99 (25.66)
  7 Foster, Jake           SR Texas             3:39.09    3:40.03   12  
    r:+0.69  23.28        50.21 (26.93)
        1:18.67 (28.46)     1:47.10 (28.43)
        2:16.89 (29.79)     2:47.95 (31.06)
        3:14.77 (26.82)     3:40.03 (25.26)
  8 Johnston, David        JR Texas             3:37.90    3:40.10   11  
    r:+0.68  23.21        49.77 (26.56)
        1:18.04 (28.27)     1:45.60 (27.56)
        2:16.41 (30.81)     2:47.88 (31.47)
        3:14.34 (26.46)     3:40.10 (25.76)
 
                        === Consolation Final ===                        
 
  9 Schlicht, David        SO ASU               3:39.61    3:38.03    9  
    r:+0.65  23.45        50.10 (26.65)
        1:18.20 (28.10)     1:45.80 (27.60)
        2:15.87 (30.07)     2:46.67 (30.80)
        3:12.95 (26.28)     3:38.03 (25.08)
 10 Nelson, Baylor         FR TAMU              3:39.14    3:38.11    7  
    r:+0.63  23.10        49.84 (26.74)
        1:17.38 (27.54)     1:44.32 (26.94)
        2:14.77 (30.45)     2:46.29 (31.52)
        3:13.36 (27.07)     3:38.11 (24.75)
 11 Laur, Mason            SO Florida           3:39.60    3:40.77    6  
    r:+0.62  23.35        49.68 (26.33)
        1:18.01 (28.33)     1:45.31 (27.30)
        2:16.88 (31.57)     2:48.81 (31.93)
        3:15.49 (26.68)     3:40.77 (25.28)
 12 Hoagland, Jack         SR Notre Dame        3:41.67    3:40.82    5  
    r:+0.75  23.77        51.17 (27.40)
        1:19.79 (28.62)     1:47.20 (27.41)
        2:18.42 (31.22)     2:49.86 (31.44)
        3:15.89 (26.03)     3:40.82 (24.93)
 13 Torok, Dominik Mark    FR Wisconsin         3:41.44    3:41.35    4  
    r:+0.65  23.36        50.58 (27.22)
        1:19.36 (28.78)     1:48.40 (29.04)
        2:18.41 (30.01)     2:49.84 (31.43)
        3:16.58 (26.74)     3:41.35 (24.77)
 14 Dramm, Louis           FR UNC               3:40.93    3:41.45    3  
    r:+0.67  23.46        50.37 (26.91)
        1:19.30 (28.93)     1:47.61 (28.31)
        2:18.60 (30.99)     2:49.97 (31.37)
        3:16.52 (26.55)     3:41.45 (24.93)
 15 Driggers, Landon       SO Tennessee         3:41.23    3:42.31    2  
    r:+0.71  24.30        51.58 (27.28)
        1:19.54 (27.96)     1:47.15 (27.61)
        2:18.74 (31.59)     2:50.86 (32.12)
        3:17.41 (26.55)     3:42.31 (24.90)
 16 Daigle, Jared          5Y Michigan          3:40.35    3:42.40    1  
    r:+0.71  23.64        51.22 (27.58)
        1:19.72 (28.50)     1:47.54 (27.82)
        2:18.45 (30.91)     2:50.15 (31.70)
        3:16.55 (26.40)     3:42.40 (25.85)
 
                  Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 8                  
 
  1. California                        215   2. Texas                             204
  3. Arizona St                        198   4. NC State                        151.5
  5. Florida                           151   6. Indiana                            99
  7. Tennessee                          89   8. Stanford                           74
  9. Auburn                             57  10. Louisville                         55
 11. Virginia                           53  12. Virginia Tech                      52
 13. Texas A&M                          51  14. Georgia                            49
 15. Ohio St                          31.5  16. Alabama                            26
 17. Wisconsin                          23  18. Lsu                                22
 18. Notre Dame                         22  20. UNC                                18
 21. Southern California                14  22. Michigan                           13
 23. Arizona                            10  23. Missouri                           10
 25. Miami                               9  26. Princeton                           4
 27. Georgia Tech                        3  28. Pittsburgh                          1

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use