The smell of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (OG) continues to perfume the weekend of October 19 and 20. Aside from the coronation of Cassandre Beaugrand in triathlon the day before, the European Championship of the Lebrun brothers in table tennis or the World Championship in track cycling, Léon Marchand, undisputed star of the last Olympic Games, was also back in action. In very different conditions than those he lived in Paris.
Neither the size of the pool (25 meters instead of the Olympic 50 meters) nor the lack of breath of the public (more concerned about the performances of national star Pan Zhanle) seem to have worried him. On Sunday, October 20, the Toulouse concluded the Shanghai (China) stage of the short course World Cup with a new victory (400 m medley) and fourth place (200 m breaststroke).
After two days of competition, in which the 22-year-old swimmer had already won the 100 and 200 meter medley finals, each time breaking the French record in the distance and even the European record in the second event, fatigue began to set in. become present. felt on Sunday.
During his first final of the day, the four-time Olympic champion dominated the 400m medley (4:0.3), beating Jérémy Stravius’ French 25m pool record, set in 2012, by almost six seconds (4:0.3). min 6s 85). He beat the Italian Alberto Razzetti (4 min 1 s 51) and the New Zealander Lewis Clareburt (4 min 5 s 3).
Less than an hour later (at 1:27 p.m. Paris time), Léon Marchand was already back in the pool at the Oriental Sports Center to swim his last race in China, the 200 m breaststroke; but not everything went as planned. The Frenchman failed to display his swimming and trust in his throw, and finally stayed at the foot of the podium (2 min 2 s 99), more than a second behind the Australian Joshua Yong, winner of the race (2 min 1 s 67) . He continues to set a new French record, which until then was owned by Antoine Viquerat (2 min 3 s 33) from 2022. An ultra-tight sequence that recalls his performance achieved during the Olympic Games, where he won gold in the 200 m. butterfly and 200 m breaststroke in less than two hours.
The Frenchman returned to training a month ago
These positive results (three wins in four finals) obtained in the Middle Kingdom are not a surprise, since Léon Marchand dominates the competition, but they are still a satisfaction for the French clan. The Bob Bowman student did not return to training “only” on September 16 and had not swum 25 meters since 2019.
But this distance is not foreign to him. In recent years, Léon Marchand has participated in the American College Championship (NCAA), where he has broken numerous records in yardage (range of approximately 23 meters). “The pours are the same as in the NCAA, maybe there will be one or two more moves. Finally, I have more reference points than deep down, estimated the man from Toulouse on Saturday. I’ve been doing this for three years. My turns are faster, my flows too, in this one I have an advantage. »
For the Frenchman, his attention is now focused on the next two stages of the 25-meter pool World Cup, in Incheon (South Korea, from October 24 to 26) and Singapore (from October 31 to November 2). Enough to better prepare for the Short Course World Championships, which will be held in Budapest from December 10 to 15, to conclude his golden year in style.
