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Leon Marchand broke the 200m individual medley world record at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, clocking 1:52.69, surpassing Ryan Lochte’s 2011 record of 1:54.00.
Olympic champion French swimmer Leon Marchand (AFP)
Leon Marchand continued his dominance in the pool on Wednesday, obliterating the world record in the 200m individual medley at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.
The 23-year-old French swimmer clocked 1 minute 52.69 seconds in the semi-finals, taking more than a full second off the previous mark of 1:54.00, set by Ryan Lochte in 2011.
The record-breaking swim comes a year after Marchand lit up the Paris Olympics, where he claimed four individual gold medals in front of his home crowd.
“Actually I can’t believe it right now,” said Marchand, who won four individual golds in front of his home fans at the Paris Olympics a year ago.
“I knew I was going to be close to my PB (personal best) because I felt really good today, and preparation has been pretty good.
“But 1:52 is unbelievable for me.”
Marchand, who broke Michael Phelps’s long-standing 400m individual medley world record at the World Championships in Japan two years ago, had been targeting Lochte’s record in Singapore.
After taking a post-Olympics break from competition, he returned to training in May and focused specifically on medley events.
He began his campaign Wednesday morning with a time of 1:57.63 in the heats, then went all-out in the semis to achieve the historic feat, choosing not to conserve energy for Thursday’s final.
“It was good, I swam well, I think I pretty much did what I wanted to do,” Marchand said after his morning heat.
“There are a few technical details that I’ll go over with my coach, things I can improve on for tonight.”
(with AFP inputs)
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term…Read More
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term… Read More
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