SINGAPORE — Léon Marchand broke the world record in the 200-meter individual medley Wednesday at the world championships in Singapore, clocking 1 minute, 52.61 seconds, to surpass the 1:54.00 set in 2011 by American Ryan Lochte.
The Frenchman set the mark swimming in the semifinals and, in theory, could break the record again in Thursday’s finals.
Marchand won four Olympic gold medals a year ago in Paris, but he’s swimming only the 200 and 400 medley — and relays — in Singapore. Planning the lighter schedule in what he calls a “transition year” keeps him fresh to chase the world marks.
Marchand didn’t just break the 14-year-old record; he shattered it.
“What’s crazy is that it’s a whole second — and it’s still hard to believe,” he said. “1:52 on the 200 meters — that’s insane.”
Marchand will swim the 400 IM on Sunday, the final day of the world championships. He holds that record of 4:02.50, set in the 2023 worlds in Fukuoka, Japan. And it seems likely to go.
“Today I felt really good before the race,” he said. “In the water, I felt light, I was taking in a lot of water and technically everything felt clean.”
Asked about swimming a lighter schedule, he replied in an understatement: “It was probably the right decision.”
Marchand was about 1.8 seconds under the world record after 150 meters and powered home with the final freestyle leg.
Though this race did not yield a world title — that will come to the winner of Thursday’s final — it did win Marchand a check for $30,000.
“In the end I went out hard from the start,” he said. “But I stayed super-relaxed. I didn’t make many mistakes. I didn’t realize I was going that fast, but I gave it absolutely everything. Arms at full speed all the way to the wall. At that point I wasn’t even thinking about technique anymore.”
More than Marchand
Despite being in only a semifinal, Marchand’s performance overshadowed the five finals on Day 4 of the worlds — the halfway mark with four days more to go. Those finals produced medals for the United States, Australia, Italy, Tunisia and the Neutral Athletes.
American Luca Urlando picked up the third gold medal for the United States in the championships, winning the 200 butterfly in 1:51.87. Krzysztof Chmielewski of Poland was second in 1:52.64, with bronze for Harrison Turner of Australia in 1:54.17.
Urlando has battled back from several surgeries for his first big title on the world stage.
“It was a great race — all great — a great moment,” he said. “I’m trying to have as much fun as I can with it.”
When asked how he overcame the setbacks, he replied: “The belief that I could get back to a moment like this. Internal belief.”
Mollie O’Callaghan of Australia, the defending Paris Olympic champion in the 200 freestyle, repeated her title in the worlds, pulling away in the last 50 to finish in 1:53.48. Li Bingjie of China was the silver medalist in 1:54.52, with bronze going to American Claire Weinstein in 1:54.57.
O’Callaghan has had a difficult time coming back after the Olympic victory, dealing with the stress and the post-Games letdown.
“I’ve had an amazing coach, Dean [Boxall], to guide me through this difficult time,” O’Callaghan said. “It’s hard for a lot of people to come back after the Olympics.”
Weinstein, like many of the Americans, has been dealing with what team officials call “acute gastroenteritis” picked up at a training camp in Thailand before arriving in Singapore.
A new name, a missing name
Ahmed Jaouadi of Tunisia won the 800 free, clocking 7:36.88 — the third-fastest time ever swum in the event. Sven Schwartz of Germany claimed silver in 7:39.96, with fellow German Lukas Martens taking bronze in 7:40.19. American Bobby Finke, the three-time Olympic gold medalist, was fourth, far off the pace in 7:46.42.
Sam Short of Australia, who had the second-quickest qualifying time in the 800, pulled out of the race with what the team said was food poisoning.
One big shock came in the men’s 100 freestyle semifinals, where world-record holder Pan Zhanle of China failed to reach the top eight for Thursday’s final. American Jack Alexy had the best time of 46.81, with David Popovici across in 46.84. Pan finished in 47.81, far off his world-record time of 46.40 set last year in Paris.
In the men’s 50 breaststroke, Simone Cerasuolo of Italy won in 26.54, with silver for Kirill Prigoda swimming as a Neutral Athlete and bronze for Qin Haiyang of China.
McIntosh and Yu
In the women’s 200 butterfly semifinals, Canadian Summer McIntosh had the top qualifying time in 2:06.22. Yu Zidi, a 12-year-old Chinese competitor, swam 2:07.95 to make the final eight. Her time was the eighth best.
McIntosh has already won two gold medals and is trying for five in Singapore.
Yu finished fourth earlier in the championships in the 200 individual medley.
In the final event, the Neutral Athletes won the mixed 4×100 medley relay in 3:37.97. China was second (3:39.99), and Canada was third (3:40.90).
The United States failed to reach Wednesday’s final after finishing 10th in qualifying. The Americans were Olympic champions in the event last year in Paris.
Britain and France also missed reaching the final.
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