Olympic Champion Marchand Narrows Focus to Medleys at World Championships

French swimmer Léon Marchand, a standout star at the 2024 Paris Olympics with four gold medals, is focusing exclusively on the 200m and 400m individual medleys at the upcoming World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. He has decided to skip the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke events to concentrate on breaking the 200m medley world record of 1:54.00, set by Ryan Lochte in 2011. Marchand already holds the 400m medley world record, which he claimed from Michael Phelps in 2023, and narrowly missed Lochte's 200m medley record by six hundredths of a second at the Olympics. His coaches in France and the US support this strategy, noting that competing without other events on the same day will allow Marchand to be fresher and potentially improve his performance. Marchand will start the championships on July 30 with the 200m medley heats, aiming to capitalize on this focused approach. Additionally, he may take on a larger role in France’s relay teams during the championships.