Marchand’s heroic performance continues as gold with 200 IM
In the finals of the men’s 200 IM at the 2023 World Championships, France’s Leon Marchand swam a time of 1:54.82 to win his third gold medal at Worlds. His time is a new European Record and makes him the third-fastest performer of all time. In addition, he also joins Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte as one of the only three swimmers to break 1:55 in the event.
The former European Record was 1:55.18 from Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh.
All-Time Top Performers, Men’s 200 IM:
- Ryan Lochte, United States — 1:54.00 (2011)
- Michael Phelps, United States — 1:54.16 (2011)
- Leon Marchand, France — 1:54.82 (2023)
- Wang Shun, China — 1:55.00 (2021)
- Kosuke Hagino, Japan — 1:55.07 (2016)
Marchand’s previous best time was 1:55.22 from when he won the world title in 2022. Compared to his 2022 swim, Marchand was faster on the fly, back, and breast, but 0.22 seconds slower on his freestyle leg. In addition, he was also slightly off Lochte’s world record splits for the first 150 meters of his race, but Lochte was a whopping 0.79 seconds faster coming home.
Earlier on at the World Championships, Marchand broke the 400 IM world record and also won gold in the 200 fly with a new best time.