Léon Marchand won a third title in the World Swimming Championships this Thursday, July 27, while Maxime Grousset took bronze in the 100m freestyle.
Extraterrestrial ! Léon Marchand made history a little more on Thursday July 27 by winning the gold medal in the 200m medley. After his title in the 400m medley and the 200m butterfly, the French swimmer is now triple world champion in these Fukuoka Worlds, five times if we add the gold medals won in Budapest in 2022. “It was a great final , there was a big field and it was going fast a bit on all sides. I was well at (line) 4, I could see a bit of everything that was going on. And I’m having a good race , I win, I’m happy. In the breaststroke, I gave everything to come back, and after, in the crawl, it was hard but I got back to it until the end (…) I’ll be able to enjoy , I still enjoyed after the 400m medley, after the butterfly, but obviously it’s a loss of energy too when you explode with joy, so I keep my emotions a little. There I’ll be happy to to be on vacation to savor all that” explained the Frenchman after the race.
The evening was very beautiful for the French delegation and not only for Léon Marchand since Maxime Grousset, bronze medalist in the 50m butterfly a little earlier in the week, obtained the same metal in the 100m freestyle at the end of a close final (he beat 4th by 1 hundredth) and won by the Australian Chalmers ahead of the American Alexy.
On the other hand, in the women’s 100m freestyle semi-finals, the French Marie Wattel and Béryl Gastaldello found themselves in the same race and finished in 4th and 6th place in the latter. Too far unfortunately to qualify for the final, since the two swimmers take the 9th and 12th time. Disappointment also for Analia Pigrée, European champion in the 50m backstroke, who finished last in this final won by Australian Kaylee McKeown who won her 2nd gold medal in these World Championships in Fukuoka. During the 200m breaststroke, without Léon Marchand who skipped, Antoine Marc finished 7th in his semi-final and will not compete in his first world final. In the rest of the night session in Japan, the Canadian Summer McIntosh, only 17, was crowned in the women’s 200 butterfly meters, a junior world record. In the semi-finals of the 200m backstroke, Mewen Tomac started very strong and remained in the lead until the 175 meters before touching in 4th position. Enough to qualify for the final when it does not pass for Antoine Herlem.
Twenty-two years later, the city of Fukuoka in Japan is hosting the World Long Course Swimming Championships.
During the two weeks of competition, there will be 6 disciplines and 75 events. The races will start on July 23 and end on July 30.
What TV broadcast for the world swimming championships?
These World Championships in Japan will be followed live on france.tv and France 4 with Christian Choupin and Camille Lacourt.
For the World Championships in Japan, the tricolor delegation is important with 32 French people. Among them, there is Florent Manaudou, Charlotte Bonnet or Léon Marchand who is eagerly awaited.
Like Kylian Mbappé in football or Victor Wembanyama in basketball, Léon Marchand continues to be talked about. He belongs to this young generation of precocious French athletes in performance. At 21, he is already world champion in the 200m medley and the 400m medley. In the 200m butterfly, he is world vice-champion. During the 2023 French Championships in Rennes in June 2023, the Toulousain took gold in the 5 events where he lined up.
But most impressively, he broke a Michael Phelps record in the 200m medley at the Pro Swim Series last April. A feat now overshadowed by his historic performance at the 2023 World Swimming Championships. On July 23, Léon Marchand won gold in the 400m medley, thus winning his 3rd world title and above all smashing the record held since 2008 on this proof by Michael Phelps. On July 26, he continued with a new title in the 200m butterfly, then in the 200m medley on July 27.
Out of breath? Florent Manaudou has not left an image of a swimmer tired of success in recent weeks. Laure Manaudou’s little brother won the gold medal in his favorite stroke, the 50m freestyle. Better, he achieved in Rennes on June 15, the best world performance of the year. Florent Manaudou will arrive in Japan with certainty and once again unshakable confidence. It is the first time that he will swim again during the World Championships in long course. His last appearance in this competition dates back to 2015.
