{"id":535123,"date":"2023-08-11T05:40:36","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T12:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=535123"},"modified":"2023-08-11T05:40:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-11T12:40:36","slug":"could-leon-marchand-add-200-breaststroke-race-four-individual-events-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/could-leon-marchand-add-200-breaststroke-race-four-individual-events-in-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Leon Marchand Add 200 Breaststroke, Race Four Individual Events in Paris?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could Leon Marchand Add 200 Breaststroke, Race Four Individual Events in Paris?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the second consecutive World Championships, Frenchman\u00a0Leon Marchand<\/strong> was an unstoppable force in the medley events. Marchand first broke out internationally at the Budapest Worlds in 2022, threatening the world record in the 400 IM and completing the double in the 200 IM, and this year in Fukuoka, he made it three world titles as he knocked off Michael Phelps’<\/strong> 15-year-old world record in the 400 IM<\/a>, pulled away for gold in the 200 butterfly<\/a> and then easily won the 200 IM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Even without setting world records in either of his 200-meter races, but he now ranks third all-time in both races, sitting behind only\u00a0Kristof Milak<\/strong> and Phelps in the 200 fly and behind\u00a0Ryan Lochte<\/strong> and Phelps in the 200 IM. And Marchand might be one of the world’s best in a third 200-meter race except for the fact that he was unable to show off those skills last month.<\/p>\n

Marchand was finished with his individual racing program by day five at Worlds, unable to race the 200 breaststroke because the semifinals took place less than 20 minutes before the 200 IM final. In his absence, China’s\u00a0Qin Haiyang<\/strong> completed the sweep of the breaststroke events by winning gold in a world-record time of 2:05.48, with Olympic champion\u00a0Zac Stubblety-Cook<\/strong> taking silver and American\u00a0Matt Fallon<\/strong> bronze.<\/p>\n

It’s no hot take that Marchand would have won a medal if the opportunity to swim the 200 breast presented itself. Earlier this year, he swam a mark of 2:06.59 at the French Championships to jump to No. 5 all-time in the event. In Fukuoka, Stubblety-Cook swam just two tenths faster on his way to silver while Fallon’s bronze-medal time was more than one second behind Marchand’s best. And remember, Marchand swam much faster in his other events at Worlds, so he could have made a run at gold, even with Qin’s incredible, world-record breaking time.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Marchand, the new nine-day Olympic swimming schedule<\/a> creates a conflict that will likely prevent him from racing all four of his primary individual events in front of French fans at La Defense Arena next summer. The prelims, semifinals and finals of the 200 fly and 200 breast are all in the same session, with plenty of time between the first two rounds of the two events, but the final would be a major challenge, with only minutes separating the 200 fly final and 200 breast final.<\/p>\n

Here’s what the program would look like if Marchand chooses to race all four:<\/p>\n