Marchand Punches Ticket to Paris with 4:10.62 4IM; Don’t Panic About the Time
2024 FRENCH ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sunday, June 16 – Friday, June 21
Chartres, France
LCM (50 meters)
Meet Central
Entry List
Results
Live Stream
Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
Finals: Day 1 | Day 2
MEN’S 400 IM – FINALS
World Record: 4:02.50 – Leon Marchand, FRA (2023)
World Junior Record: 4:10.02 – Ilya Borodin, RUS (2021)
French Record: 4:02.50 – Leon Marchand (2023)
2021 Winning Time: 4:09.65 – Leon Marchand
Olympic Qualifying Time: 4:12.50
Top 3
Leon Marchand (Dauphins Toulouse OEC) – 4:10.62
Emilien Mattent (Charleville-Mezieres Natation) – 4:16.22
Jaouad Syoud (Dauphins Toulouse OEC) – 4:19.91
Leon Marchand, with his swim tonight, is officially on his way to Paris. After placing 6th in the 400 IM in Tokyo, Marchand has turned himself into the dominant force in the event. He swept both the medleys at the 2022 Worlds and 2023 Worlds and in yards, has lowered the mark by handfuls of seconds each season he has swum it.
The 4:10.62 he swam is not one of his fastest swims; he’s been under 4:10 at least four times, but it should be no reason to panic. It is very likely that Marchand is not fully rested, if rested at all and with the lack of domestic competition in his events, he should feel very little pressure. Looking at his splits, we can support such a deduction.
Fly
Back
Breast
Free
Total
2024 French Trials
55.26
1:03.84
1:09.60
1:01.92
4:10.62
2023 Worlds Prelims
54.27
1:02.97
1:11.95
1:01.69
4:10.88
2023 Worlds Finals (WR)
54.66
1:01.98
1:07.64
58.22
4:02.50
Marchand was faster tonight than his 2023 prelims time, which, as we all know, was the step right before his World Record breaking 4:02.50. In comparing the splits of the two 4:10s, we can see that Marchand has improved his breaststroke dramatically and was just a little slower across the other three hundreds. If he was out of shape and died, we could expect to see the first 100s closer to his world record, and the back half would see a dramatic drop-off.
Last night, Marchand’s closet rival Carson Foster booked his ticket to Paris as he swam a 4:07.64 to qualify for his first Olympics. While the American’s time is almost three seconds faster than Marchand’s results from today, one should not read too much into it.
Fly
Back
Breast
Free
Marchand Trials
55.26
1:59.10 (1:03.84)
3:08.70 (1:09.60)
4:10.62 (1:01.92)
Foster Trials
55.33
1:58.82 (1:03.49)
3:09.63 (1:10.81)
4:07.64 (58.01)
After the breaststroke, Marchand had a theoretical lead over close to a second on Foster but also an eight-second lead and, unlike Foster, was not being chased by the defending gold and silver Olympic medalists and the ghosts of three years past.
This is no to say that Foster (and Chase Kalisz) don’t have a chance in Paris, as if you have a lane, you have a chance, but I wouldn’t go writing any Marchand obituaries.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Marchand Punches Ticket to Paris with 4:10.62 4IM; Don’t Panic About the Time