M400IM: Marchand Back To Winning In Charted Waters After His 200 Timewarp Trip
“Today was proof that I made the right choices and that I’m doing what I love ... I already knew it - but it always feels good to be on the top step of the podium, to hear the national anthem, and to reflect on everything that’s happened this year.” - Léon Marchand
The race for the title was, in effect, over before the proverbial gun went off. We'd seen quadruple Olympic champion Léon Marchand jump into a Tardis for a spot of timewarpery in the 200m medley.
The only question was whether his 'sprint' progress would yet show through at the endurance end of the medley challenge.
Sort of, if you add a sprinkling of imagination and knowledge-based faith to the mix, was the answer the Frenchman gave as he pulverised his rivals as the swiftest lane 1 outside smoker there's ever been in a 400 medley final: 4:04.73.
That's his fourth-fastest career performance and all-time No5 performance:
Victory granted the king of versatility his career World long-course title No3, too, after wins in 2022 and 2023. Having left behind the club of the two-times titled, with the likes of Hungarians Andras Hargitay and Tamas Darnyi, Americans Tom Dolan, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, Marchand stamped his ticket to the 400IM triple crown club with Japan's Daiya Seto (2013, 2015, 2019).
In the Frenchman's wake, Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita took silver in 4:08.32, Ilia Borodin the bronze in 4:09.16.
Sort of, was the answer because, clearly a 4:02.50 World record at Fukuoka when Marchand had just joined the sub-1:55 lounge (1:54.82, European record) seemed somewhat vulnerable now that he'd leapfrogged the 1:53s and landed on a far-flung planet on 1:52.69:
Craig Lord
And he'd achieved that after having travelled to Singapore to proved to himself in the little pool that Lochte at his best was get-at-able:
Craig Lord
Marchand, 23, said nothing after the medley final because he had to dash off to race the breaststroke leg in the 4x100 medley for France. A silver lining was added to the pantheon. He'd proved himself a master of doubles in Paris last year with towering victories in the 200m butterfly and breaststroke in the same session:
Craig Lord
Craig Lord
Craig Lord
Despite all of that, Marchand said that he felt rough in heats, when he scraped into the final by the grace of half a second. He felt the evening medley/relay twin challenge was even worse, with a twist:
“Physically, it was really tough. I felt heavy in the water, especially at the bottom without fins. But I kept going and gave everything I had, because I really wanted to connect with my body. Afterward, it was hard to recover in just 30 minutes. But given what was at stake, I was determined to perform well in the relay with the team. In the end, I recovered well. I came out of it okay. Actually, I even feel kind of lifted by the whole experience.”
Marchand stayed in France the whole of last year after the Olympics, then headed Down Under to have fun while easing his way back to fitness. He spent a little time with Dean Boxall at St Peters Western - and then it was time to head back to Bob Bowman and knuckle down in Texas.
The result so far has been an astonishing 200m medley World record, and a 400IM in waters no-one other than himself and Michael Phelps have ever charted: 54.92, 1:57.64, 3:06.39 and a closing 58.34 on freestyle that compares well with his two best efforts in the event:
- 54.32; 1:56.76 (1:02.44); 3:04.24 (1:07.48); 4:02.95 (58.26) 2024 Olympic gold - Paris
- 54.66; 1:56.64 (1:01.98) 3:04.28 (1:07.64) 4:02.50 (58.22) - 2023 World Championships gold - Fukuoka WR
Marchand concluded in Singapore this evening:
“So now it’s time to train. It was still a great race. During the breaststroke leg, I don’t know what happened - my legs just gave out all of a sudden. It was really hard, but I managed to hang on from start to finish. I didn’t look too much at the others. At the Olympics, I usually try to control what’s happening around me because I want to be Olympic champion… but this time, it felt like a different kind of race.
“Today was proof that I made the right choices and that I’m doing what I love. I didn’t necessarily need that confirmation, I already knew it, but it always feels good to be on the top step of the podium, to hear the national anthem, and to reflect on everything that’s happened this year.”
Marchand mesmerises once more - Photos by Patrick B. Kraemer
He has two targets next year to go for, and one of them is a no-brainer of a must-be-there:2026 European Championships in ... Paris. The other one is a short-course challenge should he choose to travel to Beijing for the World s/c championships. After that, we're headed for Budapest 2027 World long-course championships and onwards to LA2028.
By then, Matsushita may be among those getting closer to targets they missed today. The Japanese improver thought today that he might rival his French adversary and Japan's national mark of 4:06.05, set for Olympic silver in Rio back in 2016 by Kosuke Hagino, who is here in Singapore and was to be found exchanging pleasantries in the mixed zone, and catching up with James Guy and the Britain 4x200m crew after they landed another gold on Friday.
Matsushita matched Hagino's feat with silver in Paris last year. He said:
“Last year’s silver was a happy one, but this time, the feeling of frustration welled up right after the race. I think that’s because I set higher goals for myself over the past year. In that sense, I feel that I’ve grown as an athlete…After swimming the heats, I felt that I was close enough to win, so that makes it all the more frustrating. To be honest, the path to LA28 had seemed long and distant, but now I feel more confident.”
