French Trials, Day 4 Prelims: Leon Marchand Navigates 200 Fly & 200 Breaststroke
Leon Marchand safely navigated the prelims of the 200 fly and 200 breast on the fourth day of the French Olympic trials in Chartres.
The 2023 world champion headed the fly in 1:57.90 before returning for the breaststroke in the final event of the session, placing second behind Antoine Marc in 2:12.83 to 2:12.85.
Much has been made of the schedule jam the young Frenchman will face at a home Games in Paris with the 200 fly and breast taking place in the same session.
Marchand is the fifth-fastest 200br performer in history with a PB of 2:06.59 but he’s never raced it a top international meet and it appeared that with the two events back to back on the fifth night of finals, he would be forced to choose between the two.
However, it appears now there’ll be more than an hour between the two races.
Will he do both? Will he do one? What will he do? The only thing within his control in Chartres is to qualify for both events and then make the decision.
Marchand, who is coached by Bob Bowman in the USA, has already qualified for the 400IM, the spotlight set to be focused on the 22-year-old from now…..
Emma Terebo – who set a French 100 back record en-route to making the cut – went 2:10.37 for top seed in the 200, 0.02 inside the QT.