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French swimmer Leon Marchand has made headlines yet again. This time, the 20-year-old athlete reset the 200m freestyle relay split record.
Marchand became the first-ever swimmer to clock a 200m split under 1:29, which helped his Arizona State University team capture the 800m freestyle relay. Previously, the record was held by American swimmer Dean Farris.
Farris' time from the 2019 NCAA Championships was the U.S. Open Record in the 200m freestyle. Some had to shatter that record with a takeover, and Marchand had to put out a valiant effort for the same.
Leon Marchand was nearly a minute faster than the second-fastest split, which was held by Townley Haas by clocking 1:29.66 in 2019.
Interestingly, Marchand also set the fastest 50 breaststroke relay split just a day earlier in the competition before setting this record.
Leon Marchand also holds the 400m individual medley record
Recently in January, Marchand also broke Hugo Gonzalez's NCAA record for a 400m individual medley by clocking 3:31.84, which was almost a minute faster than Hugo's 3:32.88. Hugo set a record last year in the NCAA finals.
Interestingly, Leon Marchand holds 400m and 200m individual medley records at the NCAA Championships and has now set the fastest time for the 200m freestyle relay.
Leon Marchand's life and career so far
Leon Marchand, a French swimmer, was born on May 17, 2002. In addition to the 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly, and 200m breaststroke in France, he also owns the long-course record for the 400m individual medley in Europe.
Over the previous two years, Marchand has garnered notice with his outstanding performances. Given that both of his parents were competitive swimmers, it wouldn't be incorrect to suggest swimming runs in his family. Leon is eager to win the family's lone Olympic gold. He was born to Olympians Xavier Marchand and Celine Bonnet.
At the World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August 2019, Marchand won the bronze medal in the 400m individual medley with a French record time of 4:16.37.
At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Marchand placed sixth in the 400m individual medley with a time of 4:11.16. In addition, he placed 10th in the 4x100m medley relay, 14th (1:55.68 in the 200m butterfly), and 18th (1:58.30 in the 200m individual medley).
He earned two gold medals in the 2022 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming & Diving Championships: the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. At the 2022 NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, Marchand earned his first individual NCAA championship for the Arizona State Sun Devils in the 200-yard individual medley.
Caeleb Dressel (NCAA and US Open records from 2018) and Andrew Seliskar (US Open records from 2017) also established records prior to Marchand's time of 1:37.69, although both were nearly four-tenths of a second slower than Marchand's (NCAA Championships record).
At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, he won gold in the 400m individual medley, silver in the 200m individual medley, and bronze in the 200m butterfly.
Leon Marchand might now go on to represent France as a medal contender at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
