Leon Marchand Cracks NCAA and U.S. Open Records in 200 Breaststroke at Pac-12 Championships

Leon Marchand -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Leon Marchand Cracks NCAA and U.S. Open Records in 200 Breaststroke at Pac-12 Championships

Already at his second Pac-12 Championships, Leon Marchand had posted the second-fastest time in history in the 200 IM and broken his own NCAA and U.S. Open records in the 400 IM along with leading Arizona State to three relay victories. Now, Marchand has recorded the fastest time ever, taking down the NCAA and U.S. Open record set by Will Licon in 2017.

Marchand posted a time of 1:47.67, breaking Licon’s 1:47.91 by a quarter-second. Marchand also beat his own Pac-12 record of 1:48.20, which he posted in a victorious effort at last season’s NCAA Championships. In this race, Marchand equaled or bettered each of his splits from his previous top time last year, but he was off record pace for the entire race before covering the final 50 yards three tenths faster than Licon.

Marchand, 2023 Pac-12 Championships: 24.37, 51.71 (27.34), 1:19.46 (27.75), 1:47.67 (28.21)
Marchand, 2022 NCAA Championships: 24.67, 52.01 (27.34), 1:19.88 (27.87), 1:48.20 (28.32)
Licon, 2017 NCAA Championships: 24.23, 51.42 (27.19), 1:19.41 (27.99), 1:47.91 (28.50)

Marchand was already the only swimmer in the country to break 1:50 so far this season with his 1:48.82 from Arizona State’s dual meet against Cal in late January, but he demolished that mark by more than a second Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, in the race behind the star Frenchman, Cal finished 2-3 with Reece Whitley touching in 1:51.30 and Jason Louser going 1:51.41. Those times rank just outside the top-10 in the country this season. A second Sun Devil swimmer, David Schlicht, took fourth in 1:52.15.

Results

Event 19  Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:47.91  3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas
       PAC-12: M 1:48.20  2022      Leon Marchand, ASU
 PAC-12 Champ: P 1:48.86  2020      Reece Whitley, CAL
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                            === A - Final ===                            
 
  1 Marchand, Leon         SO ASU               1:52.34    1:47.67N  20  
                 24.37        51.71 (27.34)
        1:19.46 (27.75)     1:47.67 (28.21)
  2 Whitley, Reece         GS California        1:52.54    1:51.30   17  
                 25.00        53.25 (28.25)
        1:21.87 (28.62)     1:51.30 (29.43)
  3 Louser, Jason          SR California        1:50.99    1:51.41   16  
                 24.78        52.78 (28.00)
        1:21.68 (28.90)     1:51.41 (29.73)
  4 Schlicht, David        SR ASU               1:52.92    1:52.15   15  
                 25.32        53.69 (28.37)
        1:22.84 (29.15)     1:52.15 (29.31)
  5 O'Grady, Chris         SO Southern Cali     1:53.72    1:52.77   14  
                 25.54        54.43 (28.89)
        1:23.41 (28.98)     1:52.77 (29.36)
  6 Dillard, Ben           JR Southern Cali     1:54.52    1:53.27   13  
                 25.44        54.14 (28.70)
        1:22.83 (28.69)     1:53.27 (30.44)
  7 Polonsky, Ron          SO Stanford          1:54.43    1:53.53   12  
                 25.28        53.73 (28.45)
        1:22.84 (29.11)     1:53.53 (30.69)
  8 Soderlund, Jacob       SO California        1:54.45    2:15.29   11  
                 24.86        52.83 (27.97)
        1:34.82 (41.99)     2:15.29 (40.47)

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