NCAA Men’s Championships: Leon Marchand Goes 3-for-3 with 200 Breast Record
The vocabulary is left wanting these days when it concerns Leon Marchand. The Arizona State sophomore not only keeps winning, not only keep setting records, but keeps doing them in such dominant fashion and by such varied means as to make describing them as futile an effort as trying to best him.
Marchand made it 3-for-3 at the 2023 NCAA Men’s Championships by obliterating the field in the men’s 200 breaststroke. He went 1:46.91 to lower his NCAA record. He was more than two seconds clear of the field.
Second was Texas’s Caspar Corbeau in 1:49.15. Minnesota’s Max McHugh was third in 1:49.91.
Marchand and McHugh went 1-2 last year, with the race following an expected template. McHugh, the 100 breast specialist, went out fast and led after 150 meters. But Marchand reeled him in, outsplitting him by nine tenths over the final 50 to win by .56 seconds.
Saturday, Marchand just went and dared the rest to come get him. They didn’t. He was out in 50.65, 1.3 seconds up on Corbeau. His lead grew to near two seconds after 150 yards.
“It was a different swim today,” Marchand said. “I felt a little bit sick today so that was kind of hard. I just tried my best to win the race and push a little bit my record, so 1:46 was great.”
The points also help Arizona State keep pressure on California, though it’s likely to late for that. But it gives them a 38-point cushion over Texas in the battle for second. It’s a big part of what Marchand finds to exhilarating, even among his three NCAA records this week.
“I’m just very happy to be in this team,” he said. “We’re building something special, and each year is better, so I’m excited for next year too.”
Corbeau hung tough and was under the pool record Marchand set in the morning. But that was still well back. McHugh added another medal in this event, which he’d won in 2021.
Fourth was Josh Matheny of Indiana in 1:50.12. Florida’s Aleksas Savickas was fifth in 1:50.48. Savickas helped the Gators leap past NC State and into fourth place. Cal’s Jason Louser finished sixth, with Carles Coll Marti of Virginia Tech seventh. He’d been fourth last year. Andres Puente Bustamante rounded out the top eight.
Louisville’s Denis Petrashov surged late to win the B final in 1:51.23, three tenths up on 1:51.53. Jake Foster helped Texas’ case by going from 16th in prelims to 11th overall, though Arizona State’s David Schlicht checked that by taking 10th place.
Event 18 Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
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NCAA: N 1:47.67 3/4/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona St
Meet: M 1:47.91 3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas
American: A 1:47.91 3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas
U. S. Open: O 1:47.67 3/4/2023 Leon Marchand, Arizona St
Pool: P 1:49.64 3/25/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Marchand, Leon SO ASU 1:49.64 1:46.91N 20
r:+0.67 23.76 50.65 (26.89)
1:18.42 (27.77) 1:46.91 (28.49)
2 Corbeau, Caspar SR Texas 1:49.98 1:49.15P 17
r:+0.66 24.41 51.96 (27.55)
1:20.18 (28.22) 1:49.15 (28.97)
3 McHugh, Max 5Y Minnesota 1:50.64 1:49.91 16
r:+0.67 24.52 52.20 (27.68)
1:20.71 (28.51) 1:49.91 (29.20)
4 Matheny, Josh SO Indiana 1:51.24 1:50.12 15
r:+0.52 24.93 53.01 (28.08)
1:21.42 (28.41) 1:50.12 (28.70)
5 Savickas, Aleksas FR Florida 1:50.98 1:50.48 14
r:+0.67 24.64 52.45 (27.81)
1:21.18 (28.73) 1:50.48 (29.30)
6 Louser, Jason SR California 1:51.43 1:50.90 13
r:+0.71 24.58 52.52 (27.94)
1:21.07 (28.55) 1:50.90 (29.83)
7 Coll Marti, Carles JR VT 1:51.44 1:51.20 12
r:+0.61 24.86 53.34 (28.48)
1:21.91 (28.57) 1:51.20 (29.29)
8 Puente Bustamante, An SR TAMU 1:50.86 1:51.66 11
r:+0.65 24.79 52.98 (28.19)
1:21.85 (28.87) 1:51.66 (29.81)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Petrashov, Denis SR Louisville 1:51.53 1:51.23 9
r:+0.72 25.01 53.46 (28.45)
1:22.27 (28.81) 1:51.23 (28.96)
10 Maas, Derek SR Alabama 1:51.96 1:51.53 7
r:+0.65 24.80 53.50 (28.70)
1:22.39 (28.89) 1:51.53 (29.14)
11 Schlicht, David SO ASU 1:51.93 1:51.81 6
r:+0.65 25.08 53.58 (28.50)
1:22.50 (28.92) 1:51.81 (29.31)
12 Foster, Jake SR Texas 1:52.26 1:51.85 5
r:+0.68 24.74 53.10 (28.36)
1:22.17 (29.07) 1:51.85 (29.68)
13 Epitropov, Lyubomir 5Y Tennessee 1:52.15 1:52.01 4
r:+0.65 25.30 53.54 (28.24)
1:22.60 (29.06) 1:52.01 (29.41)
14 Hillis, Dillon 5Y Florida 1:52.13 1:52.10 3
r:+0.67 25.33 54.02 (28.69)
1:22.45 (28.43) 1:52.10 (29.65)
15 Bustos, Arsenio SO NC State 1:52.21 1:52.29 2
r:+0.53 24.83 53.13 (28.30)
1:22.33 (29.20) 1:52.29 (29.96)
16 Whitley, Reece 5Y California 1:51.74 1:52.93 1
r:+0.74 25.15 53.46 (28.31)
1:22.67 (29.21) 1:52.93 (30.26)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 18
1. California 414 2. Arizona St 384
3. Texas 346 4. Florida 308
5. NC State 304.5 6. Indiana 286
7. Tennessee 172.5 8. Virginia Tech 119
9. Stanford 115.5 10. Auburn 105
11. Georgia 90 12. Ohio St 81.5
13. Louisville 80 14. Texas A&M 76
15. Virginia 67 16. Missouri 62.5
17. Notre Dame 62 18. Lsu 53.5
19. Alabama 47 20. Minnesota 36
21. Southern California 31 22. Wisconsin 27
22. UNC 27 24. Michigan 24
25. Utah 14 26. Siuc 13
26. Kentucky 13 28. Columbia 12
29. Arizona 10 30. Miami 9
31. Pittsburgh 4 31. Penn St 4
31. Princeton 4 34. Georgia Tech 3
35. Towson 2 35. Air Force 2
37. Purdue 1
