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World Championships: Leon Marchand 200 IM Top Seed to Cap Double
The 200 fly/200 IM double was no problem for Leon Marchand Tuesday evening in Budapest at the 2022 FINA World Championships.
After grabbing the silver medal in the men’s 200 butterfly, the Frenchman turned around to batter the field in 1:55.75, winning the second semifinal heat to set the pace in the final.
Marchand had barely 10 minutes after the medal ceremony in the 200 fly to get back in the water. A savage split of 32.61 in the breaststroke leg pulled him away from the field.
The field had a few surprises in store Tuesday. One of them was Marchand going from a tie for eighth in prelims to clear first place in semifinals, though that appears to just have been him loading up for a busy night ahead.
Both Americans took care of business, as expected, after going 1-2 in prelims. Chase Kalisz was in complete control of the first head, pushing his first 150 meters hard before shutting it down a fraction coming home. Even still, his 28.66 on the final 50 was fifth-fastest in the field. It was slower than Daiya Seto, though, as the pair of 28-year-olds finished within .02 seconds. That leaves Seto third in 1:56.74 and Kalisz fourth in 1:56.76.
Second was the other American, Carson Foster, who had Marchand to chase and gets an inside lane at 1:56.44.
“It was good,” Foster said on the broadcast. “Just trying to execute the first 150 and see where I’m at at the 150 and manage it from there.”
Here’s where the surprises start. Reigning Olympic gold medalist Wang Shun of China snuck into finals in 15th. He crashed out at that juncture thanks to a time of 2:01.35, more than five and a half seconds behind Marchand. Also missing out on the final is Tokyo bronze medalist Jeremy Desplanches, in 11th.
That makes room for some youth. Hubert Kos, who turns 19 next month, delighted the home crowd with a time of 1:57.23 for the fifth seed. Tom Dean was solidly in the final in sixth, followed by Olympic finalist Lewis Clareburt of New Zealand. That allowed South African youngster Matt Sates to grab the eighth and final spot in 1:57.54. Israel’s Ron Polonsky was a quarter-second back to finish ninth.
Sates after some solid backstroke work will be awesome contender…diff bk vs br in most top 10 is 3.5 to almost 5 sec. Sates just under 2 sec.