He is the second man, and the first European, to break under 50 seconds in the 100 meter medley. Léon Marchand continued his consolidation in the firmament of his sport, on Thursday, October 31, by erasing the European record – held by the Russian Vladimir Morozov – in the race, in Singapore. With a time of 49.92 seconds, the Toulouse won ahead of the Swiss swimmer Noè Ponti and the Italian Thomas Ceccon. Only American Caeleb Dressel (49s 28) swam faster over the distance.
The swimmer, who had skipped the 400-meter freestyle, surpassed himself in the butterfly and backstroke. He wore the cap of the French Olympic team with the name Florent Manaudou, a nod to his elder and captain, who confided that he had begun to reflect every day on his retirement. The team the day before. “ I have the impression that I have passed the baton to Léon, who is taking it well. I’m glad I’m a little behind. », acknowledged the six-time Olympic medalist.
Regularly obliterating records, Léon Marchand improves by one second the time that had already allowed him to update the French record (50 seconds 65) during the first stage of this short course World Cup, on October 18 in Shanghai (China). Imperial, the 22-year-old Frenchman won the three combined titles (100, 200 and 400 m) of the competition before repeating his performance in Incheon (South Korea), the second stage of the competition.
A big step towards victory in the general classification
The French swimmer will launch again on Friday for the 100 m freestyle heats and then for the 200 m medley, where he is the big favorite, as well as for the 400 m medley, where he will appear on Saturday, November 2, the last day of the competition. In Singapore a new hat-trick awaits him in the combined (100, 200 and 400 m), which would ensure victory in the general classification of the three stages of this short course World Championship (Shanghai, Incheon, Singapore).
This victory, far from being the main objective of the quadruple Paris 2024 Olympic champion, would be a good omen before the 25-meter world pool championships, in Budapest, from December 10 to 15. What is at stake will be completely different for whoever concedes “enjoy” during this Asian tour, described as a period of ” transition “ returning from a long post-Olympic break.
