NCAA Men’s Championships: Leon Marchand Destroys NCAA Record in 3:28.82 in 400 IM
It may have been stunned silence in the Jean K. Freeman Aquatics Center Friday night for the 400 individual medley. When Leon Marchand hit the wall, it was certainly incredulity that rippled through the crowd.
The all-conquering sophomore obliterated his NCAA record in the 400 IM, blasting a time of 3:28.82. It’s 4.08 seconds quicker than what Hugo Gonzalez used last year to set a meet record.
“I didn’t believe what I was seeing,” Marchand said. “I was like, ’28, is that an actual time?’”
Marchand’s splits:
- 47.01 – 52.20 – 58.59 – 50.93
Gonzalez was second in 3:34.66, with Carson Foster of Texas third.
His time is an NCAA, pool, U.S. Open and everything record.
Any thoughts of a repeat of last year, when Gonzalez pulled a wild surprise to top Marchand and needed an NCAA record to it, were trounced early. Marchand was a second up after 100 yards and nearly three clear of the field at the halfway point. The 200 breaststroker surely never looked back, his front having gotten even more elite this year.
His splits at NCAAs last year:
- 48.92 – 54.79 – 1:00.66 – 49.73 – 3:34.08
And in his NCAA record at Pac-12s:
- 48.20 – 54.19 – 59.08 – 50.10 – 3:31.57
The backstroke split in particular stood out to Marchand, two seconds quicker than at the conference meet. Much like the 200 IM, Marchand attacked the front half.
“It was definitely harder than the 2IM,” he said. “In freestyle, that was so painful at the end. I did it many, many times in practice, so I’m kind of used to it. And when I saw the time, I was very surprised.”
Gonzalez finished second in 3:34.66, with Carson Foster of Texas third for a second straight year in 3:36.02. Hubert Kos of Arizona State provided a huge boost by going 3:37.00 to take fourth, though Cal’s Jason Louser minimized the damage by finishing fifth. Neither Jake Foster nor David Johnston of Texas was able to get under 3:40 in finishing seventh and eighth, respective. (Foster was fifth and Johnston seventh last year.)
In between was Georgia’s Ian Grum in sixth.
That keeps Arizona State within 17 points of California in the team race.
Baylor Nelson jumped out to the lead in the B final for the first 300 yards only to see David Schlicht of Arizona State overtake him on freestyle. Those are bonus points for the Sun Devils, the sophomore popping up a spot from 11th in the morning. Schlicht went 3:38.03, followed by Nelson .08 behind as he clocked ground. Mason Laur of Florida was 11th overall, while Jack Hoagland went from 16th in prelims to 12th overall.
Event 8 Men 400 Yard IM
=========================================================================
NCAA: N 3:31.57 3/3/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona St
Meet: M 3:32.88 3/25/2022 Hugo Gonzalez, California
American: A 3:33.42 3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
U. S. Open: O 3:31.57 3/3/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona St
Pool: P 3:34.47 3/24/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Marchand, Leon SO ASU 3:34.47 3:28.82N 20
r:+0.67 21.84 47.10 (25.26)
1:13.22 (26.12) 1:39.30 (26.08)
2:08.37 (29.07) 2:37.89 (29.52)
3:03.99 (26.10) 3:28.82 (24.83)
2 Gonzalez, Hugo 5Y California 3:35.86 3:34.66 17
r:+0.63 22.09 48.00 (25.91)
1:15.26 (27.26) 1:42.43 (27.17)
2:12.93 (30.50) 2:43.94 (31.01)
3:10.04 (26.10) 3:34.66 (24.62)
3 Foster, Carson JR Texas 3:36.38 3:36.02 16
r:+0.66 22.56 48.44 (25.88)
1:15.55 (27.11) 1:42.15 (26.60)
2:12.99 (30.84) 2:44.45 (31.46)
3:10.69 (26.24) 3:36.02 (25.33)
4 Kos, Hubert FR ASU 3:36.86 3:37.00 15
r:+0.60 22.67 49.93 (27.26)
1:16.76 (26.83) 1:43.27 (26.51)
2:13.54 (30.27) 2:45.33 (31.79)
3:11.62 (26.29) 3:37.00 (25.38)
5 Louser, Jason SR California 3:38.19 3:38.69 14
r:+0.69 23.07 50.09 (27.02)
1:17.98 (27.89) 1:45.37 (27.39)
2:15.36 (29.99) 2:45.84 (30.48)
3:12.99 (27.15) 3:38.69 (25.70)
6 Grum, Ian SR Georgia 3:38.75 3:38.99 13
r:+0.56 22.45 48.30 (25.85)
1:15.85 (27.55) 1:42.76 (26.91)
2:14.93 (32.17) 2:47.23 (32.30)
3:13.33 (26.10) 3:38.99 (25.66)
7 Foster, Jake SR Texas 3:39.09 3:40.03 12
r:+0.69 23.28 50.21 (26.93)
1:18.67 (28.46) 1:47.10 (28.43)
2:16.89 (29.79) 2:47.95 (31.06)
3:14.77 (26.82) 3:40.03 (25.26)
8 Johnston, David JR Texas 3:37.90 3:40.10 11
r:+0.68 23.21 49.77 (26.56)
1:18.04 (28.27) 1:45.60 (27.56)
2:16.41 (30.81) 2:47.88 (31.47)
3:14.34 (26.46) 3:40.10 (25.76)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Schlicht, David SO ASU 3:39.61 3:38.03 9
r:+0.65 23.45 50.10 (26.65)
1:18.20 (28.10) 1:45.80 (27.60)
2:15.87 (30.07) 2:46.67 (30.80)
3:12.95 (26.28) 3:38.03 (25.08)
10 Nelson, Baylor FR TAMU 3:39.14 3:38.11 7
r:+0.63 23.10 49.84 (26.74)
1:17.38 (27.54) 1:44.32 (26.94)
2:14.77 (30.45) 2:46.29 (31.52)
3:13.36 (27.07) 3:38.11 (24.75)
11 Laur, Mason SO Florida 3:39.60 3:40.77 6
r:+0.62 23.35 49.68 (26.33)
1:18.01 (28.33) 1:45.31 (27.30)
2:16.88 (31.57) 2:48.81 (31.93)
3:15.49 (26.68) 3:40.77 (25.28)
12 Hoagland, Jack SR Notre Dame 3:41.67 3:40.82 5
r:+0.75 23.77 51.17 (27.40)
1:19.79 (28.62) 1:47.20 (27.41)
2:18.42 (31.22) 2:49.86 (31.44)
3:15.89 (26.03) 3:40.82 (24.93)
13 Torok, Dominik Mark FR Wisconsin 3:41.44 3:41.35 4
r:+0.65 23.36 50.58 (27.22)
1:19.36 (28.78) 1:48.40 (29.04)
2:18.41 (30.01) 2:49.84 (31.43)
3:16.58 (26.74) 3:41.35 (24.77)
14 Dramm, Louis FR UNC 3:40.93 3:41.45 3
r:+0.67 23.46 50.37 (26.91)
1:19.30 (28.93) 1:47.61 (28.31)
2:18.60 (30.99) 2:49.97 (31.37)
3:16.52 (26.55) 3:41.45 (24.93)
15 Driggers, Landon SO Tennessee 3:41.23 3:42.31 2
r:+0.71 24.30 51.58 (27.28)
1:19.54 (27.96) 1:47.15 (27.61)
2:18.74 (31.59) 2:50.86 (32.12)
3:17.41 (26.55) 3:42.31 (24.90)
16 Daigle, Jared 5Y Michigan 3:40.35 3:42.40 1
r:+0.71 23.64 51.22 (27.58)
1:19.72 (28.50) 1:47.54 (27.82)
2:18.45 (30.91) 2:50.15 (31.70)
3:16.55 (26.40) 3:42.40 (25.85)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 8
1. California 215 2. Texas 204
3. Arizona St 198 4. NC State 151.5
5. Florida 151 6. Indiana 99
7. Tennessee 89 8. Stanford 74
9. Auburn 57 10. Louisville 55
11. Virginia 53 12. Virginia Tech 52
13. Texas A&M 51 14. Georgia 49
15. Ohio St 31.5 16. Alabama 26
17. Wisconsin 23 18. Lsu 22
18. Notre Dame 22 20. UNC 18
21. Southern California 14 22. Michigan 13
23. Arizona 10 23. Missouri 10
25. Miami 9 26. Princeton 4
27. Georgia Tech 3 28. Pittsburgh 1
