Leon Marchand Named World Male Swimmer of the Year

Leon Marchand Named World Male Swimmer of the Year For Third Consecutive Year

The reign of King Leon continues. Leon Marchand is but once more the highest male swimmer on the earth, and he provides World Male Swimmer of the Year honors for 2025 after beforehand capturing the respect in 2023 and 2024. Marchand captured the award decisively on the idea of his performances on the World Championships in Singapore, the place he added his third world titles in each the 200 and 400 particular person medley.

One yr after thrilling a house crowd on the Paris Olympics with 4 gold medals, turning into solely the fourth man after Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps to drag off such an accomplishment, Marchand opted for a pared down program at this yr’s Worlds. He opted out of the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke to give attention to the medleys, with one clear goal in thoughts: the world report within the 200 IM.

Marchand had narrowly missed that mark within the Olympic ultimate, coming in six hundredths behind the 2011 time posted by Ryan Lochte. That race had been Marchand’s fourth particular person ultimate and eleventh race general in Paris, so he wished an opportunity to indicate off his expertise whereas contemporary. Indeed, Marchand got here out swinging within the semifinal spherical. He jumped properly beneath world-record tempo after the butterfly, and his common sensational breaststroke leg put him an unbelievable two seconds away from Lochte’s time.

Marchand held on through the freestyle leg to complete in 1:52.69 and annihilate the earlier mark. The efficiency was considered one of solely two lengthy course world information in males’s swimming in 2025.

“I actually can’t really believe it right now. I knew I was going to get close to my PB 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,” Marchand mentioned after his record-breaking efficiency. “It’s a whole second, and it’s still hard to believe.”

One day later, Marchand earned gold within the occasion in 1:53.68, nonetheless a lot faster than the earlier world report. On the ultimate day of competitors, Marchand barely certified for the 400 IM ultimate in seventh place, however at evening, he confirmed off his common dominant kind in swimming’s most grueling occasion. He completed in 4:04.73, the fifth-fastest mark in historical past, to defeat the sector by three-and-a-half seconds.

Less than 45 minutes later, Marchand had one different medal to chase. He reprised his position because the breaststroker on France’s 400 medley relay and cut up 58.44, the third-quickest cut up within the discipline. He joined with teammates Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Maxime Grousset and Yonn le Goff. Singapore marked solely the third event France had received a World Championships medal within the occasion.

However, Marchand’s World Championships dominance within the particular person medley occasions didn’t totally seize his greatness. At the U.S. Open in December, he climbed the world rankings in two additional occasions: his 1:52.57 was the second-quickest mark of the yr behind solely American world champion Luca Urlando, and his monumental private finest of three:44.70 within the 400 freestyle put Marchand at No. 9 within the rankings. The latter efficiency opened up the potential for a future run on the mid-distance race together with Marchand’s possible return to his 200-meter stroke races.

The 23-year-old Frenchman would additionally make one look on the World Cup circuit in Carmel, Ind., selecting up top-three finishes within the 400 free, 200 again, 200 IM and 200 breast. In his uncommon backstroke look, Marchand confirmed off the underwater dolphin kick expertise that made him essentially the most feared NCAA swimmer ever, and he even had the lead over Hubert Kos — his coaching associate and the world and Olympic champion within the 200 again — for a lot of that race. That tighter-than-expected showdown prompted amusing from the Hungarian, in awe of Marchand’s multi-discipline magic.

These accomplishments made Marchand the clear option to repeat because the world’s high male performer, even when he didn’t high the unbelievable heights of the previous two years. He was the one swimmer to win a number of world titles this yr and in addition break a person lengthy course world report.

Marchand’s victory makes him solely the second man ever to win three consecutive World Swimmer of the Year awards. The earlier swimmer in that place was Michael Phelps, victorious in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Marchand nonetheless has lengthy technique to go to catch Phelps’ lifetime complete of eight wins, because the American additionally topped the record in 2003, 2004, 2012 and 2016. Including girls, Marchand is considered one of 4 swimmers to win three straight, becoming a member of Debbie Meyer (1967-1969), Phelps and Katie Ledecky (2013-2016).

Additionally, that is the fourth consecutive yr {that a} European swimmer has topped the charts as World Male Swimmer of the Year, and the continent continues to be dominant in males’s competitors. Including Marchand, three of the 5 males to win a number of world titles hail from Europe. The others are Romania’s David Popovici (100 and 200 free) and Marchand’s French countryman Maxime Grousset (50 and 100 fly), and each have been among the many top-five finishers for this yr.