French swimming star Léon Marchand cruised into the semi-finals at the world championships in Singapore on Wednesday with the fastest time of the five heats in the men's 200m individual medley.
A year after winning four gold medals at the Paris Olympics, Marchand completed the 50m series of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle in one minute, 57.63 seconds.
Six other swimmers from the 23-year-old's heat progressed to the semi-finals including Marchand's University of Texas training mates Hubert Kos and Shane Casas.
"‘It was good," Marchand told reporters after his heat. "I swam well and I pretty much did what I wanted to do.
"There are a few technical details I can improve on for the semi-finals but it was nice because I was with Hubert and Shane next to me, just like at home."
Earlier, Frenchmen Maxime Grousset and 18-year-old Rafael Fente-Damers booked their tickets for the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle.
Grousset, who claimed France's first gold medal on Monday in the 50m butterfly, won his heat in 47.84 seconds.
Fente-Damers progressed with a time of 48.33 seconds.
