WATCH: Leon Marchand smashes Ryan Lochte's 14-year-old 200m individual medley world record – ‘A 1:52 on the 200 — that's insane'
Marchand blasted through the World Aquatics Championships Arena in one minute, 52.69 seconds in his semi-final, shaving more than 1.3 seconds off Ryan Lochte's long-standing 1:54.00 from the 2011 event in Shanghai. 'I actually can't really believe it right now,' said Marchand. 'I knew I was going to get close to my PB (personal best) because I felt really good today, and the preparation has been pretty good, so I was really excited to race. It's unbelievable for me. What's crazy is that it's a whole second (ahead of Lochte). A 1:52 on the 200 — that's insane. I'm so happy, it's just incredible.'
Leon Marchand king of the long course individual medley 😱 #AQUASingapore25
200 IM – Lochte 2011 ➡️ Marchand 2025 ✅
400 IM – Phelps 2008 ➡️ Marchand 2023 ✅ pic.twitter.com/oHiG5qJDhn
— World Aquatics (@WorldAquatics) July 30, 2025
The 23-year-old from Toulouse also owns the 400 IM world record of 4:02.50. That record, originally held by Micahel Phelps since 2008, was broken in 2023 when Marchand clocked 04:02.50 at World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.
Exhausted after the Paris Games where he won four individual golds, Marchand skipped the short-course world championships in Hungary last December and suffered injuries before returning to the pool for the TYR Pro Series in Florida in May. He is swimming a reduced programme in Singapore, focusing on the 200 and 400 IM alone for individual events, as he works through what he calls a 'transition year'. If this is his transition year, his rivals might wonder what he has in store for them in a normal season.
'I went out hard from the start, but I stayed super relaxed,' Marchand was quoted as saying World Aquatics. My underwaters were hitting 15 metres every time, and I didn't make many mistakes. I didn't realise I was going that fast, but I gave it absolutely everything — arms at full speed to the wall.'
'The 100 has become my strength, which is wild, because it used to be my weak point. Over the last 50, I still had people to chase. I tried to build that last lap well and went all out. It was really tough, obviously, because I was going at such a fast pace.'
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