World Swimming Championships 2025: Léon Marchand smashes world report in 200 IM in semi-finals

France’s Léon Marchand broke the 200m particular person medley (IM) world report on Wednesday (30 July), clocking 1:52.69 through the semi-finals of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, to raised the earlier mark of 1:54:00 held by Ryan Lochte.

The four-time Olympic champion had shared after qualifying that he meant to rewrite historical past and, simply as he hinted, produced a storming race to obliterate the time set by Lochte in 2011.

“For me, it’s a victory,” Marchand mentioned after the race. “Especially since this report is not simply equalised; it was by greater than a second. I’m having some issue believing it: the 200m IM. But I’m so blissful. That was so cool.

“Today I felt actually good. Before the race, I felt actually mild. I used to be taking plenty of water on and on a technical degree, that was nice. So we spoke with Bob [Bowman] and Nico [Castel], and we agreed we would have liked to go for it tonight.

“In the race, I went all in at the start. I was so relaxed. I took a lot of water, my underwater glides were about 15m each, and there were not a lot of mistakes. I didn’t think I was that fast, but I gave it my all.”

Marchand, dealing with exhaustion after his triumphant Olympic performances, opted to skip the quick course world championships in Hungary final December. Injury then additional delayed his return to competitors till the TYR Pro Series in Florida in May.

Speculation swirled across the French celebrity upon his return to the world stage in Singapore, not least after he shared he can be making an attempt a lighter schedule, selecting solely to contest the medley occasions individually.

It was a choice that finally paid off.

“I don’t even know how to describe this emotion. Surprise. Very surprised. And joy. It tells me that all the choices I made this year were the right ones, and I want to thank everyone who is behind me,” Marchand continued.

“I used to be injured this 12 months, however I skilled day by day. There was no day I used to be out of the water for the reason that Games. I had this report in my head, however I didn’t assume it might occur that early.”

Marchand will contest the boys’s 200 IM last tomorrow, the place he’ll bid for a 3rd world title within the occasion.