French swimmer Léon Marchand took more than a second off the 200-meter individual medley world record on Wednesday to shatter American Ryan Lochte’s long-standing mark.
Competing in the semifinals at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, Marchand clocked a time of 1:52.69 – 1.31 seconds faster than Lochte’s record set in 2011.
He may go even faster in Thursday’s final, during which he will look to win a sixth world title and add to the four Olympic gold medals he claimed at last year’s Paris Games.
“What’s crazy is that it’s a whole second (faster than the previous record) … and it’s still hard to believe,” said Marchand, per World Aquatics. “A 1:52 on the 200m – that’s insane. I’m so happy. It’s just incredible.”
The 23-year-old is already an Olympic and two-time world champion in the 200m individual medley, which involves swimming a length of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle in the same race.
After an injury-hit start to the year, Marchand returned to competitions in May and now appears to have rediscovered the kind of form that made him one of the biggest stars of last year’s Olympics on home soil.
“Over the last 50 (meters), I still had people to chase,” he said. “I tried to build that last lap well and went all out. It was really tough, obviously, because I was going at such a fast pace.”
Marchand, who has 22 medals across the Olympics and World Championships, including 18 golds, will also compete in the 400m individual medley in Singapore, which is scheduled for Sunday.
