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Reuters
an hour ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Marvellous Marchand sparkles on return to global stage with 200 medley world record
July 30 (Reuters) - Four-time Olympic gold medallist Leon Marchand returned to the global stage with a bang on Wednesday by shattering the 200 metres individual medley world record to light up day four of the world championships in Singapore. The "French Phelps" blasted through the World Aquatics Championships Arena in one minute, 52.69 seconds in his semi-final, shaving more than 1.3 seconds off Ryan Lochte's long-standing 1:54.00 from the 2011 event in Shanghai. "I actually can't really believe it right now," said Marchand, who also owns the 400 IM world record of 4:02.50. "I knew I was going to get close to my PB (personal best) because I felt really good today, and the preparation has been pretty good, so I was really excited to race. "It's unbelievable for me. What's crazy is that it's a whole second (ahead of Lochte). "A 1:52 on the 200 — that's insane. I'm so happy, it's just incredible." Exhausted after the Paris Games where he won four individual golds, Marchand skipped the short course world championships in Hungary last December and suffered injuries before returning to the pool for the TYR Pro Series in Florida in May. He is swimming a reduced programme in Singapore, focusing on the 200 and 400 IM alone for individual events, as he works through what he calls a "transition year". If this is his transition year his rivals might wonder what he has in store for them in a normal season. Marchand's world record capped a bumper night of five gold medals, with Mollie O'Callaghan reclaiming her 200 freestyle crown to boost Australia's gold haul. Tunisia celebrated a new force in distance swimming as Ahmed Jaouadi won the men's 800 freestyle in the fastest time since the supersuit era. There were shocks amid the triumphs, though, with China's world record holder Pan Zhanle coming up short in the men's 100 freestyle semi-finals, while Olympic champions the United States missed the final of the mixed medley. Few would have bet against O'Callaghan taking back the 200 title she won in Fukuoka two years ago. The Australian delivered a dominant swim of 1:53.48 to touch the wall more than a second clear of China's silver medallist Li Bingjie. "Coming here would have been one of the last things I thought I would do at the start of the year," said the 21-year-old Queenslander, who had a long rehab from a dislocated knee earlier this year. "It's all worth it in the long run for me ... Moments like this make it so much better." Two years after Ahmed Hafnaoui won the 800 freestyle in the fastest time (7:37.00) in the post-supersuit era, compatriot Jaouadi raised the bar again to claim the title ahead of runner-up Sven Schwarz and another German in Lukas Maertens. The 20-year-old held off a strong field to win in 7:36.88, the third fastest of all time behind only Chinese world record holder Zhang Lin and fellow Tunisian Oussama Mellouli. With Marchand skipping the 200 butterfly, former world junior champion Luca Urlando became the first American to win the event since Michael Phelps in 2011. The Californian swam 1:51.87 to beat Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski by 0.77 seconds, while bronze-winner Harrison Turner was thrilled to claim a first world medal in the event for Australia and also a national record. "Dirty gold! Let's go!" Turner yelled at an Australian TV camera. Italian Simone Cerasuolo was similarly buoyant after he upset Chinese powerhouse Qin Haiyang to win the 50 breaststroke title in 26.54. Qin took bronze behind Russian Kirill Prigoda, who was competing as a neutral athlete. Russian athletes are allowed to take part in World Aquatics events under a neutral banner on the condition that they have not publicly supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine and have no affiliation to the Russian military. Summer McIntosh is on track for a third gold of the meet after she set the second-fastest time in qualifying for the final of the 200 butterfly. The 18-year-old Canadian has already won the 200 IM and 400 freestyle golds as she looks to match American great Phelps's record of five individual titles at a single world championships. While the U.S. flopped in the 4x100 mixed medley, Russian athletes competing as neutrals claimed a surprise gold ahead of China and Canada. McIntosh will be favourite to win the 200 butterfly in one of five golds on offer on Thursday's day five, while David Popovici will look for a second gold in the men's 100 freestyle when he goes up against Kyle Chalmers and American Jack Alexy.
CNN
2 hours ago
- Sport
- CNN
Léon Marchand breaks long-standing 200-meter individual medley world record at World Aquatics Championships
French swimmer Léon Marchand took more than a second off the 200-meter individual medley world record on Wednesday to shatter American Ryan Lochte's long-standing mark. Competing in the semifinals at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Marchand clocked a time of 1:52.69 – 1.31 seconds faster than Lochte's record set in 2011. He may go even faster in Thursday's final, during which he will look to win a sixth world title and add to the four Olympic gold medals he claimed at last year's Paris Games. 'What's crazy is that it's a whole second (faster than the previous record) … and it's still hard to believe,' said Marchand, per World Aquatics. 'A 1:52 on the 200m – that's insane. I'm so happy. It's just incredible.' The 23-year-old is already an Olympic and two-time world champion in the 200m individual medley, which involves swimming a length of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle in the same race. After an injury-hit start to the year, Marchand returned to competitions in May and now appears to have rediscovered the kind of form that made him one of the biggest stars of last year's Olympics on home soil. 'Over the last 50 (meters), I still had people to chase,' he said. 'I tried to build that last lap well and went all out. It was really tough, obviously, because I was going at such a fast pace.' Marchand, who has 22 medals across the Olympics and World Championships, including 18 golds, will also compete in the 400m individual medley in Singapore, which is scheduled for Sunday.
CNN
2 hours ago
- Sport
- CNN
Léon Marchand breaks long-standing 200-meter individual medley world record at World Aquatics Championships
Olympics People in sportsFacebookTweetLink Follow French swimmer Léon Marchand took more than a second off the 200-meter individual medley world record on Wednesday to shatter American Ryan Lochte's long-standing mark. Competing in the semifinals at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Marchand clocked a time of 1:52.69 – 1.31 seconds faster than Lochte's record set in 2011. He may go even faster in Thursday's final, during which he will look to win a sixth world title and add to the four Olympic gold medals he claimed at last year's Paris Games. 'What's crazy is that it's a whole second (faster than the previous record) … and it's still hard to believe,' said Marchand, per World Aquatics. 'A 1:52 on the 200m – that's insane. I'm so happy. It's just incredible.' The 23-year-old is already an Olympic and two-time world champion in the 200m individual medley, which involves swimming a length of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle in the same race. After an injury-hit start to the year, Marchand returned to competitions in May and now appears to have rediscovered the kind of form that made him one of the biggest stars of last year's Olympics on home soil. 'Over the last 50 (meters), I still had people to chase,' he said. 'I tried to build that last lap well and went all out. It was really tough, obviously, because I was going at such a fast pace.' Marchand, who has 22 medals across the Olympics and World Championships, including 18 golds, will also compete in the 400m individual medley in Singapore, which is scheduled for Sunday.
CNN
2 hours ago
- Sport
- CNN
Léon Marchand breaks long-standing 200-meter individual medley world record at World Aquatics Championships
French swimmer Léon Marchand took more than a second off the 200-meter individual medley world record on Wednesday to shatter American Ryan Lochte's long-standing mark. Competing in the semifinals at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Marchand clocked a time of 1:52.69 – 1.31 seconds faster than Lochte's record set in 2011. He may go even faster in Thursday's final, during which he will look to win a sixth world title and add to the four Olympic gold medals he claimed at last year's Paris Games. 'What's crazy is that it's a whole second (faster than the previous record) … and it's still hard to believe,' said Marchand, per World Aquatics. 'A 1:52 on the 200m – that's insane. I'm so happy. It's just incredible.' The 23-year-old is already an Olympic and two-time world champion in the 200m individual medley, which involves swimming a length of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle in the same race. After an injury-hit start to the year, Marchand returned to competitions in May and now appears to have rediscovered the kind of form that made him one of the biggest stars of last year's Olympics on home soil. 'Over the last 50 (meters), I still had people to chase,' he said. 'I tried to build that last lap well and went all out. It was really tough, obviously, because I was going at such a fast pace.' Marchand, who has 22 medals across the Olympics and World Championships, including 18 golds, will also compete in the 400m individual medley in Singapore, which is scheduled for Sunday.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Leon Marchand breaks 200m world record at World Championships
French swimmer Leon Marchand has shattered the men's 200m individual medley record, clocking a time of 1:52.69 at the World Championships in Singapore. The previous world record of 1:54.00 had been set by Ryan Lochte at the World Championships in Shanghai in 2011, with Marchand shaving nearly one and a half seconds off the American's time. Marchand, who won four Olympic gold medals at last year's Games in Paris, set the new benchmark in his semi-final on Wednesday and could in theory break the record again in the final on Thursday. 'I knew I was going to get close because I felt good yesterday [in qualifying],' he said, adding that his decision to race a lighter schedule this year was 'probably the right decision'. He took an extended break after his Olympic triumph, skipping last year's Worlds, and injuries kept him out of competition until this May. The 23-year-old is only competing in the 200m and 400m medley and relays in Singapore, and also holds the world record for the 400m individual medley, setting a time of 4:02.50 in the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka. Marchand won both world individual medley titles in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the event, as well as at the Paris Olympics, with his other two golds at the Games coming in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke. As well as putting him in pole position to pick up another world title on Thursday, Marchand also earned $30,000 for breaking the world record.
