Fresh off his impressive performance and overall victory at the 2024 Swimming World Cup, Leon Marchand was back in the water at the short-course meters Interclub Championships in Montauban, France. Marchand raced four times for his club team, Dauphins du TOEC, helping them finish first among the 19 menโs teams in action.
First, Marchand swam second on the 10×50 freestyle relay, clocking 21.17 with a flying start. The swim is well under the 22.61 he swam on the first 50 of his 100 free prelims swim at the second leg of the World Cup in Incheon. That was his first registered 50 freestyle in short-course meters.
Watch his 50 freestyle split below, courtesy of Bleuoccitanie on Twitter.
Lรฉon Marchand est ร Montauban ce dimanche, pour les championnats interclubs rรฉgionaux ! ๐โโ๏ธ
Avec les Dauphins du TOEC, le quadruple champion olympique a participรฉ au relais 10ร50m nage libre.#natation #Montauban pic.twitter.com/IqXy5Nkb8B
โ France Bleu Occitanie (@bleuoccitanie) November 10, 2024
He was back up in the 200 breaststroke, where he won by 11 seconds. Marchand powered to a 2:06.12, splitting 1:01.30/1:4.82 as he posted the second-fastest swim of his career. Until the Shanghai World Cup, Marchand hadnโt swum the short-course meters 200 breaststroke in almost five years. He swam 2:06.68 in Shanghai prelims, before taking fourth in the final with a 2:02.99, which stands as his lifetime best.
The 200 breaststroke was Marchandโs only individual swim of the day. After that, he was back on two more relays. He anchored the Dolphinsโ 4×200 freestyle relay in 1:42.91, teaming with Guillaume Guth (1:48.72), Jaouad Syoud (1:47.77), and Swann Plaza (1:47.07) for the win in 7:06.47. Marchand took on the short-course meters 200 freestyle for the first time in his career at the Singapore World Cup stop. There, he posted his lifetime best flat start of 1:40.91, finishing second to Duncan Scottโs Triple Crown-winning 1:39.83.
Finally, Marchand swam breaststroke on the Dolphinsโ winning 4×100 medley relay. Antonie Herlem got the squad a big lead on the backstroke leg (52.18), which Marchand extended with a 57.29 breaststroke split. Alexander DโAgata split 52.16 on fly, and Guth brought the quartet home in 48.73 for an overall time of 3:30.36.
This was a low-stakes meet for Marchand, but it allowed him to race for his club team and get more practice racing in short-course meters before the SC World Championships next month, particularly in relays, which he didnโt get at the World Cup.
So 21.17 or 21.97
21.17
Anyone wants to take a stab at his Budapest line-up/schedule?
Day 1 Men’s medley 200m heats and final
Day 2 Mixed medley 4x50m heats and final (maybe. I’m not sure he’ll participate)
Day 3 Men’s butterfly 200m heats and final (maybe. I;m not sure too)
Men’s medley 100m heats and semfinals
Day 4 Men’s 200m breaststroke heats and final
Men’s medley 100m final
Day 5 Men’s medley 4x50m heats and final (maybe. I’m not sure he’ll participate)
Men’s medley 400m heats and final
Day 6 Men’s freestyle 200m heats and final
Men’s medley 4x100m heats and final
At the start of the 200 breast, his first underwater exceeded 20 meters. He just wanted to have fun!
https://x.com/bleuoccitanie/status/1855625936881774594
He did it at the world cup in the heats, 13.75 was his split.
That’s not a dq past 15m?
15m rule doesn’t apply to breaststroke
Excellent example.
Wish The American club’s could or would appreciate The Original club swimmers return to represent.
.
Humble.
Great work.
People seem to forget he was an oly finalist and in the medals chance with 100 to go at Tokyo. Itโs all bob bob bob Michael Michael Michael now