Leon Marchand is a World Champion and NCAA Champion Swimmer who represents France internationally. He was the first man to go 1:37 in the 200 IM (SCY) and is the #2 performer all-time in the 400 IM (LCM) at 4:04.28.
College (Arizona State)
2021-2022
Coming in as a highly-touted recruit, Marchand delivered in his first season for Bob Bowman at ASU. At his first NCAA Championships, in his first individual event, he not only won his first NCAA title, but clocked the fastest 200 IM in history, touching at 1:37.69. This made him the first person ever to go under 1:38 in the event. He would go on to score silver in the 400 IM (3:34.08) and win his 2nd NCAA title in the 200 Breast, clocking 1:48.20.
International Competition
2020 Olympic Games
At his first Olympic Games, Marchand swam a full schedule, competing in the 400 IM (6th, 4:11.16), 200 Fly (14th, 1:55.68), and 200 IM (18th, 1:58.30).
2022 World Championships
Coming off of his Olympic experience as well as a sensational first NCAA championships, Marchand looked primed to break out in Budapest. On day 1 in the 400 IM final, Marchand was neck-and-neck with Carson Foster at the 200 when he made his move on the breaststroke. Marchand pulled away from the field and touched first in 4:04.28, the #2 swim all-time in the event, only trailing Michael Phelps’ world record of 4:03.86 from 2008.
Marchand was back in the pool on Day 3, moving through the prelims and semis of the 200 fly with ease. On day 4, Marchand had a tough double, swimming the final of the 200 fly just 43 minutes before the semi-final of the 200 IM. In the 200 fly final, Marchand clocked a 1:53.37, a french record that was good for silver behind Kristof Milak’s 1:50.34 world record. In the 200 IM semi less than an hour later, Marchand clocked another huge PB, 1:55.75, for another French record and the top seed heading into the final.
Marchand did it again on day 5, putting together a masterful 200 IM race to win gold in 1:55.22, nearly half a second ahead of 2nd place Carson Foster. This marked the 3rd time in the past 20 years that a swimmer coached by Bob Bowman had swept the IM events at the world championships (Michael Phelps in 2003 & 2007, Chase Kalisz in 2017).
