French swimming sensation Léon Marchand set a world record on Wednesday as he powered into the final of the men's 200m individual medley at the world swimming championships in Singapore.
The 23-year-old, who won four gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, finished in one minute, 52.69 seconds to slash more than a second off Ryan Lochte’s exploit of one minute and 54 seconds which the American set in July 2011 at the world championships in Shanghai.
Marchand said: “I knew I was going to get close to my personal best because I felt really good today, and the preparation has been pretty good, so I was really excited to race. But one minute and 52 is unbelievable for me."
Marchand emerged as one of the stars of last year's Games in Paris after winning the 200m and 400m individual medleys as well as the 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly.
His decision to concentrate on the individual medleys and target world records at the world championships raised eyebrows.
Vindication though came from the heats of the 200m individual medley where he was the fastest swimmer with a time of one minute, 57.63 seconds.
And he anointed himself as hot favourite for Thursday's 200m individual medley final with his semi-final exploit.
“Focusing on the medleys was probably the right decision," Marchand added. "So, I’m grateful for my coaches and all the staff behind me. It’s been a really hard season for me, but I’m happy to be here and do that.”
After Thursday's final, Marchand will take part in the heats for the 400m IM on Sunday morning.
First gold for Italy
In finals on the fourth day of competition, Simone Cerasuolo took the men's 50m breaststroke to furnish Italy with their first gold in the pool.
The 22-year-old touched home in 26.54 seconds ahead of the Russian Kirill Prigoda and Haiyan Quin from China.
Luca Urlando from the United States won the men's 200m butterfly in one minute 51.87 seconds. Krzystof Chmielewski from Poland was second and the Australian Harrison Turner from was third.
Mollie O'Callaghan claimed the women's 200m freestyle. The 21-year-old Australian finished in one minute, 53.48 seconds. Bingjie Li from China was second and the American Claire Weinstein finished third.
