Paris Olympics, Day 2 Prelims: Leon Marchand Makes Paris Debut With Dominant 400 IM Prelims Swim

Leon Marchand of France competes in the 200m Individual Medley Men Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 27th, 2023.

Leon Marchand -- Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Paris Olympics, Day 2 Prelims: Leon Marchand Makes Paris Debut With Dominant 400 IM Prelims Swim

Officials implored the crowd inside La Défense Arena to quiet down for the start of the second heat of the men’s 400 IM. After that, partisan French fans roared and chanted his name as Leon Marchand raced in the Olympic pool for the first time. This was merely a qualifying swim, but after an astounding three-year stretch in which Marchand has become an NCAA champion, world champion and then world-record holder, the hype has been building for his chance to perform in front of a home crowd.

Marchand is scheduled to swim four individual events at the Paris Games, and he is a medal favorite in all of them, but only in the 400 individual medley is he considered an overwhelming favorite for gold. This was the event in which Marchand broke the final world record belonging to Michael Phelps last year, clocking 4:02.50 in the World Championships final.

World Record: Leon Marchand, FRA – 4:02.50 (2023)
Olympic Record: Michael Phelps, USA – 4:03.84 (2016)
Tokyo Olympic Champion: Chase Kalisz, USA – 4:09.42

Now, he will swim for gold in lane four, with the Parisian fans likely to bring the house down with noise in support of their champion. Marchand was dominant in his preliminary race, swimming his top time of the year thus far despite cruising down the stretch and even allowing Great Britain’s Max Litchfield and Japan’s Daiya Seto to close the gap.

Still, Marchand finished more than one second clear of the field in 4:08.30, and he now ranks No. 2 in the world for 2024 behind the 4:07.64 that Carson Foster posted at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

“It was huge when I was in the lane. I expected it, but it was something special beyond what I expected. Everybody was shouting my name. I don’t know how to explain it, but it was really great,” Marchand said of the arena’s reaction to his swim. “I prepared myself for this race. I wanted to stay within myself. The first 250 meters, I went really fast, but then I conserved my energy for the afternoon. If I can relieve myself from the pressure, my body and my spirit will be great.”

Great Britain’s Max Litchfield placed second in 4:09.51, just off his entry time of 4:09.14 from earlier this year that was the No. 2-ranked time entering the meet. Japan’s Daiya Seto, the bronze medalist in the event in 2016 and a multi-time world champion in the event, took third in 4:10.92 while Foster won his heat in 4:11.07 to earn the fourth seed. Foster has been the silver medalist in this event at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.

There was only one goal this morning, just get in the final. I got a good lane for it, next to Leon again. Good place to be in,” Litchfield said. On racing with the popular Frenchman, Litchfield added, “I just imagined they were cheering for me this morning. Hearing them through that breaststroke leg was nice. I’m just going to execute my race plan and see what we get.”

A second Japanese swimmer qualified for the final as Tomoyuki Matsushita placed fifth (4:11.18), and then there was a three-way tie for sixth between Italy’s Alberto Razzetti, New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt and Germany’s Cedric Buessing at 4:11.52. Five swimmers qualified out of the final heat, and the quick times cost Hungary’s Balazs Hollo and China’s Zhang Zhanshou spots in the final despite their 4:12s.

However, the most notable miss was defending Olympic gold medalist Chase Kalisz, who faded badly and ended up clocking 4:13.36. Kalisz had been a popular pick to return to the medal podium in Paris after entering with the world’s third-fastest time at 4:09.39, but he swam more than four seconds slower as he ended up 11th (4:13.36). Also missing was Brendon Smith, the Australian who won bronze three years ago, with Smith placing 13th (4:14.36).

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