He no longer swims, he flies. This Friday in Singapore, Léon Marchand established a new world record in the 200 meter medley, erasing Ryan Lochte's mark by almost a second, as part of the third stage of the short course World Cup.
After having won the French and European record for this distance in 1 minute 50 seconds and 30/100th in Shanghai in mid-October, the Frenchman improved his time by more than a second to establish a new world record in 1 minute 48 seconds and 88/100th.
Already a new European record
In the Singapore swimming pool, the Frenchman became the first swimmer to go under 1 minute 49 seconds in the 200 meter medley, crushing American Ryan Lochte's world record, set in 2012 by 1 minute 49 seconds and 63/100th.
“It was very exciting for me, I tried to do something that had never been done before, so I gave everything I had in the water. The crowd really pushed me, it reminded me of the Olympic Games,” Marchand said poolside.
On Thursday, the quadruple gold medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games had already set a new European record in the 100-meter medley.
The 400 meter medley to conclude Saturday
Three months after the dream Olympics, the Toulouse native will close his Asian tour with the 400m medley on Saturday, with the ambition of winning a third hat-trick in medley, after those gleaned in Shanghai and Incheon.
His season will then continue in Budapest, for the Short Course World Championships (25m) from December 10 to 15.
