{"id":576820,"date":"2024-02-02T08:59:34","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T15:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=576820"},"modified":"2024-02-02T08:59:34","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T15:59:34","slug":"medley-stars-leon-marchand-wang-shun-closing-in-on-phelps-lochte-stranglehold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/medley-stars-leon-marchand-wang-shun-closing-in-on-phelps-lochte-stranglehold\/","title":{"rendered":"Medley Stars Leon Marchand, Wang Shun Closing in on Phelps-Lochte Stranglehold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Medley Stars Leon Marchand, Wang Shun Closing in on Phelps-Lochte Stranglehold<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the span of six years, Michael Phelps<\/strong> became the first man in the 200 individual medley to break 1:58, 1:57, 1:56 and 1:55. The world record had belonged to Finland\u2019s Jani Sievinen<\/strong> at 1:58.16 for almost 19 years before Phelps went 1:57.94 at the Santa Clara Invitational in June 2003, one month before the World Championships.<\/p>\n

At the ensuing global meet in Barcelon, Spain, Phelps went 1:57.52 in the semifinals before getting all the way down to 1:56.04 in the final. Two weeks later, Phelps raced again at U.S. Nationals and lowered the record further to 1:55.94. It would be four years more before Phelps swam in the 1:54-range for the first time during his seven-gold-medal performance at the 2007 World Championships.<\/p>\n

The 200 IM might have become Phelps\u2019 most dominant event if not for the emergence of Ryan<\/strong> Lochte<\/strong>. At the 2005 World Championships, both Laszlo Cseh<\/strong> and Lochte joined Phelps in the sub-1:58 club, and one year after that, Lochte was hot on Phelps\u2019 heels in the event. When Phelps skipped the event at the 2009 World Championships, Lochte took advantage to win gold and break Phelps\u2019 world record.<\/p>\n

Two years later, Phelps returned to the event on the global level, and in one of the all-time great duels in swimming history, Lochte held off Phelps to win gold in 1:54.00, lowering his own world record<\/a>, while Phelps came in at 1:54.16, the fastest time he would ever swim. Lochte ended up winning four world titles in the event while Phelps continued to get the better of his domestic rival at the Olympic level, becoming the only swimmer ever to win four consecutive titles in one race.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been almost eight years since either man raced in an international competition, but they are still the two dominant men in the event. Of the 18 sub-1:54 performances ever recorded, eight belong to Lochte and eight to Phelps. Only in 2023 did a pair of swimmers join them in that exclusive territory. France\u2019s Leon<\/strong> Marchand<\/strong> swam a time of 1:54.82 to win his second consecutive world title in the event<\/a> before China\u2019s Wang<\/strong> Shun<\/strong>, the Olympic champion two-and-a-half years ago in Tokyo, clocked 1:54.62 for gold at the Asian Games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 1:55-club, meanwhile, has become much more crowded over the years, with several times from the polyurethane suit era of 2009 but even more from recent years for a total of 12 men. Active swimmers who have reached 1:55-territory include Americans Shaine<\/strong> Casas<\/strong>, Michael<\/strong> Andrew<\/strong>, Chase Kalisz<\/strong> and Carson Foster<\/strong> plus Great Britain\u2019s Duncan<\/strong> Scott<\/strong>, Japan\u2019s Daiya Seto<\/strong> and Australia\u2019s Mitch<\/strong> Larkin<\/strong>, with others such as Great Britain\u2019s Tom Dean<\/strong> and Italy\u2019s Alberto Razzetti<\/strong> on the cusp.<\/p>\n

\"duncan-scott-\"

Duncan Scott is among the 200 IM favorites at the upcoming World Championships — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n

Other than Marchand, Scott was the only man to break 1:56 in last year\u2019s World Championships final as he edged out a tight pack of Dean, Casas, Foster and Seto for silver. The next global gathering in the event will take place in less than two weeks in Doha<\/a>, and while both leading figures in the event, Marchand and Wang, will be absent, the field does include Casas, Foster, Seto, Scott and Razzetti, so we could get a good sense of who could make runs for Olympic medals at the Paris Games in July.<\/p>\n

Still, the most high-end potential in this event belongs to Marchand and Wang, the only two men with even a slight chance of overtaking Lochte\u2019s world record and reaching 1:53 for the first time.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s compare the splits of the all-time best performances:<\/p>\n