Frenchman Léon Marchand set a 25-meter short course world record with a time of 1:48.88 in the 200-meter individual medley at the Aquatics World Cup in Singapore on Friday.
Marchand’s winning time broke Ryan Lochte’s record of 1:49.63 that had stood since 2012.
“This was really exciting for me, because I was trying to do something that had never been done before,” Marchand, 22, said. “The crowd was going crazy, so it was really pushing me… That reminded me of Paris, the Olympics.”
In Paris, Marchand walked away with individual medals in the 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 200m medley and 400m medley, as well as a bronze in the 4x100m medley.
Friday’s achievement is Marchand’s second career world record after he surpassed Michael Phelps’ record in the long course, 50 meters 400 m IM in 2023.
Another week, another world record for Regan Smith
Last Friday, American Regan Smith finished with a world record time in the 100-meter backstroke at the Aquatics Swimming World Cup. A week later, and one race after Marchand set his own world record, Smith did it again in the same event.
Smith, an eight-time Olympic medalist and five-time world champion, finished with a time of 54.27 to beat her record of 54.41 set last week in Incheon, South Korea.
“We want to be good, better, better, and this is the third stop,” Smith said afterward.
