2023 Swammy Awards: European Male Swimmer of the Year – Leon Marchand

See all of our 2023 Swammy Awards here.

2023 EUROPEAN MALE SWIMMER OF THE YEAR: LEON MARCHAND, FRANCE

It had already been an electric first finals session in Fukuoka before Leon Marchand stepped up to the block for the 400 IM final. But, this was the individual performance that had all eyes fixed on the TV screen. The hype for Marchand to break Michael Phelps‘s last individual world record (then the oldest world record on the books) had been building since last year.

At 2022 Worlds, Marchand scared the record, swimming 4:04.28 for a new European record and making him second-fastest performer ever behind Phelps. The hype continued to build throughout Marchand’s second collegiate season as he reset the NCAA record first at a dual meet. Then, he destroyed his own record at 2023 NCAAs by becoming the first man under 3:31, 3:30, and 3:29 with a jaw-dropping 3:28.82.

Given all that Marchand accomplished in the year leading up to 2023 Worlds, it wasn’t surprising that he broke Phelps’ record. But that didn’t make it any less special.

With Phelps himself in the booth, Marchand obliterated the 4:03.84 mark from the 2008 Olympics by over a second, rocketing to a new world standard of 4:02.50. Phelps, who said after Marchand’s 1:07.64 breaststroke split, “It [the record] is gone,” was also on hand to present Marchand with his gold medal, completing a full circle moment for both Bob Bowman–trained athletes.

Courtesy: NBC Sports

With seven days left in the meet, Marchand still had a lot of racing to do. In 2022, he was named the Male Swimmer of the Meet courtesy of his two golds (400 IM, 200 IM) and one silver (200 fly). This year, he upgraded to three gold medals.

He skipped the 200 breast in favor of the 200 fly. On his first swim of the 200 fly final/200 IM semifinal, Marchand set a new French record en route to his second world title of the meet. His 1:52.43 gave gold more than a second ahead of silver medalist Krzysztof Chmielewski.

The next night in the 200 IM final, Marchand tore away from a stacked field, leaving them to battle it out for the second and third steps on the podium. He wrapped up his third gold of the meet with a European record of 1:54.82, which made him just the third swimmer to break 1:55.

With his three golds, a world record, and a continental record, Marchand edged out Qin Haiyang for Male Swimmer of the Meet, earning the honor for the second time in two years.

The 21-year-old hasn’t raced in meters since Fukuoka, as an illness he picked up at the NC State Invite also kept him away from the U.S. Open. But those recent setbacks shouldn’t at all dim the dominance that Marchand displayed this year at the collegiate and international levels. He went over a year — from September 2022 to October 2023 — without being beaten in a race. He was the first NCAA swimmer since Natalie Coughlin to complete an undefeated season.

At 2023 NCAAs, the only time he wasn’t the fastest swimmer in the pool was the last event, where Jack Alexy split faster than him on the 400-yard freestyle relay. Tallying all of those accomplishments with his exceptional 2023 Worlds makes him more than deserving to claim the European male swimmer of the year honor this year.

Honorable Mentions

• Maxime Grousset, France — Even though Caeleb Dressel and Kristof Milak‘s absences at 2023 Worlds afforded new swimmers the chance to step up in the men’s 100 butterfly, you would have gotten a few strange looks if you’d thrown Maxime Grousset‘s name out as a title threat. It’s not a knock against Grousset, it’s just that until this spring, his 100 fly PB was 56.11 and he was more known for his sprint freestyle skills; where he’d already found himself on the Worlds podium in 2022. Once he added sprint fly as a focus though, Grousset made quick improvements and broke the French record ahead of Worlds (50.61). Then in Fukuoka, he won a tight race in a blazing 50.14 and earned his first LCM world title. The swim vaulted him to 5th on the all-time performers list. He also added a gold medal to medal haul of two brzone medals from the 100 free and 50 fly. He wasn’t done yet though. In the 4×100 medley relay, he split a massive 49.27 100 fly–the 2nd fastest performance in history. He kept the pressure on at 2023 SCM Euros as well, winning gold in the 100 free and silver in the 100 fly. Grousset’s standout summer gives the French another card to play at their home Olympics next summer and also makes them a dark horse podium pick for the 4×100 medley relay.
• Hubert Kos, Hungary — Since making the move to train at Arizona State with Bowman and his ever growing group of stars, Hungary’s Hubert Kos has seen massive improvements. Before arriving in Tempe, Kos was mostly known for his IM prowess as he holds the world junior record in the 200m IM (1:56.00). But Kos honed in on his backstroke this year and made the choice to DNS the 200 IM at 2023 Worlds. The choice paid off for him. The 20-year-old beat out defending champion Ryan Murphy in the 200 backstroke, claiming his first world title in a new Hungarian record (1:54.14). Kos also set a new Hungarian record in the 100 backstroke (53.12) where he eventually finished 7th. At the 2023 U.S. Open–his first LCM meet since Worlds–Kos won the race in 53.19, a sign that even though he’s in the midst of the NCAA season, his meters the drops that he’s made in the yards pool have not come at the expense of his LCM times. In the absence of Milak, Kos was the face of the Hungarian Worlds team and looks up to the task of filling that role again in Paris, if needed.
• Daniel Wiffen, Ireland — Daniel Wiffen‘s had his eye on a world record all season long. His quest started back in March at the Stockholm Open, when he rocketed to a 14:34.89 in the LCM 1500 freestyle, which was then the 4th fastest time in history. At Worlds, he missed out on medals in highly competitive 800 and 1500 freestyle fields, but swam a new European record in the 800 free, dropping five seconds for a 7:39.19 (9th all-time). After another sub-14:36 1500 freestyle at the u23 LEN Championships, everything came together for Wiffen on the final day of December’s SCM European Championships. He broke the oldest world record on the books, taking down Grant Hackett‘s 800 free world record from 2008. Wiffen used a blistering back half to speed to 7:20.46, becoming the only swimmer to break an SCM world record this year and adding to his 400/1500 European titles from earlier in the meet.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:

• 2022 Swammy – David Popovici, Romania
• 2021 Swammy – Evgeny Rylov, Russia
• 2020 Swammy – Ilya Shymanovich, Belarus
• 2019 Swammy – Adam Peaty, Great Britain
• 2018 Swammy – Kliment Kolesnikov, Russia
• 2017 Swammy – Adam Peaty, Great Britain
• 2016 Swammy – Adam Peaty, Great Britain
• 2015 Swammy – Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy
• 2014 Swammy – Florent Manaudou, France
• 2013 Swammy – Vladimir Morozov, Russia