He came, he saw, he conquered. For his first long course competition of the year, Léon Marchand did not gamberg. The 2022 world champion in the 200m and 400m medley achieved the best world performance of the year in the 200m medley on Saturday at the meeting in Westmont, Illinois.
The Toulouse exile in the United States won in 1’55”68 during this event which counts for the American Pro Series circuit. For the occasion, he won the circuit record held by legend Michael Phelps since 2012 (1’56”32). History Snapshot: Marchand is currently being coached at Arizona State University by Bob Bowman, Phelps’ former mentor.
The 20-year-old Frenchman clearly beat two Americans, Shaine Casas (1’56”06) and Chase Kalisz (1’58”78) in the final.
Three more victories
Three months before the Worlds which will be held from July 23 to 30 in Fukuoka, Japan, Marchand is only 46 hundredths off the time (1’55”22, French record) that he achieved in the final of the Championships of the World 2022 in Budapest.
At Westmont, he also won the 400m medley (4’07”80) on Thursday, and the 200m butterfly (1’55”58), a discipline in which he is vice-world champion, and the 200m breaststroke (2′ 10”52) Friday.