NCAA Swim of the Yr (Male): Earlier than World Document Heroics, Leon Marchand Dazzles in Quick Course Yards
His efforts at this summer season’s World Championships earned Leon Marchand the clear title of world’s high swimmer. On day one of many Fukuoka meet, he broke the 400-meter IM world file set by Michael Phelps on the 2008 Olympics, and he went on to win gold medals within the 200 butterfly and 200 IM as properly. The 21-year-old Frenchman owns a bonus over the remainder of the world in all 4 legs of the longer medley race, however the loopy factor is that he’s even higher in brief course.
Marchand’s three world titles this 12 months had been along with a pair of golds plus one silver on the 2022 meet, however he’s really extra dominant in brief course, particularly the yards format during which American collegiate swimming is contested. At this 12 months’s NCAA Males’s Championships in Minneapolis, Marchand swam the quickest occasions ever in all three of his occasions, crushing the earlier data every time, and for good measure, he additionally posted the quickest break up within the subject within the 800 freestyle relay and the quickest breaststroke splits ever as a part of Arizona State’s 200 and 400 medley relays.
His signature second got here within the 400 IM, when Marchand made fast work of the worthy rivals swimming on both facet, defending nationwide champion Hugo Gonzalez and World Championships silver medalist Carson Foster. After solely 100 yards, Marchand was 9 tenths forward of the sector. On the midway level, his benefit over Foster was virtually three seconds, a notable improvement when Foster had crushed Marchand to the midway level when the 2 had raced in meters on the prior 12 months’s Worlds.
And on breaststroke, Marchand opened the lead as much as six seconds with a 58.59 break up, by far the quickest in historical past. From there, he sailed dwelling, with Gonzalez and Foster in his wake some 10 meters adrift.
The season started with Gonzalez holding the NCAA and U.S. Open data at 3:32.88, however Marchand had already crushed the mark twice, first when he swam a time of three:31.84 in a January twin meet towards Gonzalez’s Cal Golden Beas, then when he went 3:31.57 on the Pac-12 Championships. These swims previous to the championship meet prompt that Marchand would possibly swim the first-ever sub-3:30 efficiency, which might be fairly a feat contemplating the file simply over one 12 months earlier had belonged to Chase Kalisz at 3:33.42.
Certainly, Marchand reached the three:20s, skipping over 3:29 to publish a draw-dropping time of three:28.82. At a meet when Marchand broke the 200 IM NCAA file by multiple second (1:36.34) and lowered the 200 breaststroke mark by precisely one second (1:46.91), the 400 IM was the transcendent second that outlined legendary collegiate efficiency.
