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Reigning Olympic champion Leon Marchand will face Duncan Scott in the 200m individual medley at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships. The British Olympic swimming star is focusing solely on the event and has opened up about the pressure and challenge of competing against Marchand.
Leon Marchand was the dominant force in the pool at the Paris 2024 Olympics, winning four gold medals in the 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly, and 400m individual medley. He also set a new Olympic record in the 200m IM with a time of 1:54.06.
Although Leon Marchand originally entered all four events for the 2025 Worlds, he has recently withdrawn from both the 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly, according to French media reports. That means he will only compete in the 400m individual medley and 200m individual medley in Singapore and has no individual races before the 200m IM.
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As the meet approaches, in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com, Duncan Scott praised Leon Marchand as one of the "greatest swimmers" ever and admitted the challenge of trying to beat him at the 2025 World Championships.
“I’d say he’s one of the greatest swimmers ever already. He’s also a great, great kid, and I’ve got a lot of admiration for the way that he races, but at the same time, I’m going to try and beat him , he’s got a target on his back.”
“It’s difficult to say I want to try and beat him as I’ve never beaten him before, and I know how hard that’ll be,” he added. “I potentially need him to have an off day and for me to do a big lifetime best, but stranger things have happened in sport, and I believe in what I can do and how fast I can go.”
Scott is Great Britain’s most decorated Olympic swimmer, with eight Olympic medals, including two relay golds. However, he has never claimed an individual Olympic or World Championship title; most of his medals have been silvers. At the 2025 Worlds, he will race just one individual event, the 200m IM, marking a major shift from his usual multi-event schedule.
Leon Marchand’s coach explains decision to drop events
Leon Marchand came close to breaking Ryan Lochte’s long-standing world record of 1:54.00 in the 200m IM at the Paris Olympics, finishing in 1:54.06. The 23-year-old also shattered legendary swimmer Michael Phelps’ 400m IM record of 4:03.84 from the 2008 Olympics, clocking 4:02.95 at the Paris Games.
Explaining the decision to cut two events from Leon Marchand’s schedule in Singapore, his club coach, Nicolas Castel of the TOEC Dolphins, told Franceinfo Sport:
“It’s a choice we made because we’re in a post-Olympic year, and he’s never had the opportunity to perform a 200m medley without having a race before or after the same day. He wanted to try this isolated 200m medley and see what he was capable of,” Castel said.
Marchand continues to be coached by Bob Bowman, the longtime coach of Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 23 gold medals.
