Leon Marchand Fires Off 200 IM European Record At World Cup Shanghai

2024 WORLD AQUATICS SWIMMING WORLD CUP-SHANGHAI

Olympic hero Leon Marchand of France powered his way to a monster victory in the men’s 200m IM on night 2 of the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup in Shanghai.

22-year-old Marchand stopped the clock at a head-turning 1:50.30, breaking multiple records in the process.

British maestro Duncan Scott settled for silver in 1:51.08 while Swiss ace Noe Ponti rounded out the podium in 1:51.78.

For Marchand’s part, his mark of 1:50.30 established new World Cup, French and European records to once again cement the former Arizona State University NCAA champion as one of the best and most versatile swimmers on the planet.

  • The former World Cup record stood at the 1:50.37 American Shaine Casas put on the books in 2022.
  • The former French record rested at the 1:54.00 Jeremy Stravius established in 2012.
  • The former European record sat at the 1:50.85 Greek athlete Andreas Vazaios hit in 2019.
Marchand’s New European Record of 1:50.30 Vazaios’ Former European Record of 1:50.85 Casas’ Former World Cup Record of 1:50.37
23.59 25.23 23.60
27.29 26.97 27.64
31.86 31.88 31.78
27.56 26.77 27.35

The current World Record remains at the 1:49.63 American Ryan Lochte performed in 2012, although Mrchand is already within a second of that at one-time untouchable record. The Frenchman settles in as the 3rd-fastest performer in history with 2 more stops of the World Cup as well as December’s Short Course World Championships on the horizon.

Top 5 Men’s SCM 200 IM Performers All-Time

  1. Ryan Lochte (USA) – 1:49.63, 2012
  2. Matt Sates (RSA) – 1:50.15, 2022
  3. Leon Marchand (FRA) – 1:50.30, 2024
  4. Shain Casas (USA) – 1:50.37, 2022
  5. Kosuke Hagino (JPN) – 1:50.47, 2024

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Boxall's Railing
1 month ago

Calling 1:48 later in the year.

Hank
1 month ago

The dude is not even in shape yet

Swimfan27
1 month ago

Interesting that Casas’ breaststroke and freestyle were both faster than Marchand.

greenangel
2 months ago

He broke the french record twice. 1:53.53 in the heats (former french record by Jérémy Stravius – 1:54.00 in 2012) and so 1:50.30, european record. It’s clear that 200 IM and 400 IM WR are on hold. Maybe not in the WC series but certainly during the World Championships. Probably the european record in the 100 IM too. (50.26 by Vladimir Morozov in 2018). Dressel’s WR is from another world for now. 200 breast WR is on his eyes too. For the 200 fly, the european record for sure (1:49.00 by Laszlo Cseh in 2015)

ddd
2 months ago

He confirmed that the world records in the 200m and 400m individual medley would be his on the world short course.

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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