World Championships, Day Five Finals: Leon Marchand Mines Gold in 200 IM with No. 2 Time in History; Leads Training Group Sweep of Podium
There was a time when Michael Phelps routinely produced other-worldly performances in the pool. Sometimes, the efforts were of an individual nature. Other times, it was a body of work, such as what he pulled off at the 2007 World Championships and, more famously, at the 2008 Olympic Games.
When Phelps walked away from the sport following the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, a question arose: Will we ever see anything like him again? Given the extraordinary efforts of Phelps, it was a fair query. The American had taken the sport to a level previously unknown, his 28 Olympic medals a mind-numbing total and his ability to deliver under the spotlight equally difficult to digest.
Somehow, though, Leon Marchand has knocked on the door to Phelps’ exclusive club, and has been granted access. If he needed to provide a password for entry, consider this week’s performances in the 200-meter individual medley to be the codes.
One day after setting a world record in the semifinals of the 200 IM at the World Championships in Singapore, Marchand produced the second-fastst time in history when he touched the wall in 1:53.68. While the time was almost a second off the 1:52.69 he fired off in the semifinals, it earned the 23-year-old his third world title in the event, complementing previous crowns from 2022 and 2023.
Marchand was followed to the wall by a pair of training partners at the University of Texas, with American Shaine Casas clocking a spectacular 1:54.30 for the silver medal and Hungarian Hubert Kos touching in 1:55.34 for the bronze. The triumvirate works together each day in the Lonestar State, under the direction of coach Bob Bowman.
“I felt so excited yesterday that I couldn’t sleep, so I was enjoying the moment,” Marchand said. “I think I lost a lot of energy yesterday night, but it was my goal to break the record, so I was really happy with it. And then today was a different mood. I would say, I was going for the title, and I was racing my teammates during the (final), so that was pretty fun. Three of my teammates, and we’re sharing the podium together. That’s just showing how good (of a) coach Bowman is in swimming.”
Before Marchand’s pair of virtuoso performances, the world record in the 200 medley stood to Ryan Lochte at 1:54.00. That standard was established at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai, where Lochte was at the peak of his career and won four individual titles. Fourteen years later, Marchand seemingly smirked at Lochte’s legendary record, such was the greatness the Frenchman put on display.
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After winning four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Paris, Marchand was initially entered in the same four events for the World Champs – 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 200 IM and 400 IM. But as action in Singapore approached, Marchand announced he was dropping the 200 breast and 200 fly from his program, the decision centered on the chase for the world record in the 200 IM.
Obviously, that choice has proven beneficial, and Marchand will now place his focus on the 400 IM, where he is the world-record holder at 4:02.50. That event is on the final day of competition, and given how the Frenchman looked in the shorter medley, an attack on his global standard in the 400 IM is expected.
As was the case in the semifinals, Marchand was out quickly on the butterfly leg, splitting 24.11, which was just .01 off what he went in the final. He followed with a 28.46 split on the backstroke leg and turned in a breaststroke split of 32.96, with a freestyle effort of 28.15 closing out the swim.
“When I look at my pace over the first 50 meters, I’m already almost going all out,” Marchand said. “It’s kind of fun to test how far I can push like that. Like, can I really finish a 200 meters going out that fast? I still think I’m missing a bit of endurance. I feel like I could’ve closed a little stronger…Maybe next time, even if the next time is in a few years. Who knows. But it’s an event where I’m improving pretty fast. I’ve got good benchmarks now, so that’s encouraging.”
Coming off a personal best of 1:55.13 in the semifinals, Casas was sensational en route to becoming the No. 4 performer of all-time and just the fourth man in history to go sub-1:55. Casas was right with Marchand on butterfly, thanks to a split of 24.16, and he followed at 28.88 for backstroke and a superb 33.29 for the breaststroke leg. Coming home, Casas was the only swimmer in the field to finish in sub-28, going 27.97.
“I’m a little bit tired, but confident,” Casas said. “That was my first great swim in probably three years. So I’m pretty happy with that.
“Everybody saw what happened last night, so that was definitely kind of on my mind. You know how talented and great Leon is, but you know, I just kept telling myself that I’m a great competitor and I’m at the same level, maybe a little bit back. But you know, we keep working and pushing toward getting to that mark as well. But I was pretty happy with that race. I feel like that’s got to be one of the most competitive races in a long time, so I thought that was great to be a part of.”
The 200 medley was the first event a double for Kos, who contested the semifinals of the 200 backstroke later in the session. His ability to pick up the bronze medal enabled his training group to sweep the podium and complemented his better-known prowess in the 200 back, where he is the reigning Olympic champion. In reaching the medals stand, Kos beat Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (1:56.32) by nearly a second.
