Leon Marchand breaks Michael Phelps’ latest swimming world record

France’s Léon Marchand broke Michael Phelps’ latest individual world record, slamming the 400-meter individual medley on day one of the eight-day FINA World Championships.

Also on Sunday, Australian Ariarn Titmus won the 400-meter freestyle over Katie Ledecky by 3.35 seconds, breaking the world record by seven-tenths. Australia has won four of the five finals on Sunday.

Marchand, a 21-year-old who trains in Arizona under Phelps coach Bob Bowman, clocked 4 minutes 2.50 seconds in the 400-meter race in Fukuoka, Japan.

He broke Phelps’ record of 4:03.84 from his first of eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Phelps has held the record since 2002, giving him the longest world record in any Olympic event since World War II, According to swimming stats.

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“It was crazy,” Marchand has repeated in interviews. “That was one of the most painful things I’ve ever done… The best is yet to come.”

Last year at the worlds, Marchand swam the then-second-fastest time in history, besting Phelps’ world record by 44 one-hundredths. Phelps was present on Sunday and called the Peacock Race.

“I don’t want to be compared to Phelps all the time,” Marchand said before last year’s worlds. According to the French news agency. “I’m so far from him. And not only did Bowman have Phelps, he had a lot of others [star swimmers]. Suppose I want to create my own path, I don’t want to follow Phelps.

Later in the week, Marchand entered the 200m butterfly (where he won silver last year), 200m breaststroke (the fourth fastest man in history) and the 200m IM (world champion). The 200m breaststroke may fall since the semi-finals start 20 minutes before the IM 200m final on Thursday.

Phelps, who first met Marchand after the Sunday preliminaries, thought after last year’s performance that he would soon be crossed out of the world record book.

“I’m just glad I have the longest world record,” Phelps said seconds after Marchand touched the wall. “I said to Bob earlier this year, ‘I think this kid has the power to break four minutes. “

Phelps once held the world records in the 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter and 200-meter flyes, and the 200-meter and 400-meter IMs. When he retired in 2016, he still held the records for butterflies, but American Caleb Dressel and Hungarian Christophe Melak broke them in 2019.

Phelps still holds world records as part of the relays (4 x 100-meter free, now the longest standing world record and the last remaining one of 21 world records for the event from the 2008 Olympics, 4 x 200-meter free).

Earlier on Sunday, Titmus won the 400-meter freestyle that included the three fastest women in history. The Australian, whose world record was broken in March by 16-year-old Canada’s Summer McIntosh, reclaimed that record with a time of 3:55.38.

“I came tonight and just tried to be brave and race like I was that little girl again,” said Titmus, who said a lot of what was going on in her personal life was “taking over” her swimming in early 2023, in Australia. “It’s been a tough year for us. I feel like it all comes together at the perfect moment. I feel like this victory is probably what satisfies me the most.”

Ledecky, who won a silver for Titmus at the 2019 Tokyo Olympics and the 2019 Worlds, was happy to take home the silver medal again for her 23rd career run. Titmus skipped last year’s worlds — won by Ledecky — to focus on the Commonwealth Games.

“[Titmus] I just took off at 200, and had nothing I wanted in the back [half of the race]Ledecky said on the Peacock. “I’m excited about all those opportunities that we’re going to start racing again.”

McIntosh was passed by Ledecky and New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather on the final lap for fourth place.

Australia swept the men’s and women’s 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay for the first time in a world (or Olympic) tournament.

The women smashed the world record by 1.73 seconds, running 3:27.96 and silver medalist the United States won by 3.97 seconds.

In the men’s relay, 2016 Olympic 100-meter freestyle champion Kyle Chalmers moved Australia from third to first with the fastest split of the field of 32 swimmers.

The United States took the bronze medal, 65 percent ahead of Australia and 32 percent behind silver medalist Italy.

Great Britain posted what would have been the fastest time in the morning heat but were disqualified for leaving the block too early in the exchange.

Australian Sam Short, 19, won the men’s 400-meter freestyle race with a time of 3:40.68 seconds, beating Tunisian Olympic gold medalist Ahmed Hafnawi, two hundred years behind the world’s best time in 11 years. The short was seven-tenths under the world record pace at the 350-meter mark.

“Amazed in blood,” Short said. He underwent back surgery for melanoma Right after he missed the 800m and 1500m finals at last year’s Worlds. “I kind of shuddered thinking I was in the race [the Olympic gold medalist]. “

Americans Kieran Smith, an Olympic bronze medalist, and David Johnston finished ninth and seventeenth in the heats. It was the second time in history that no American male reached the 400-meter final.

Australian Kylie McCune was disqualified from qualifying after the women’s 200m semi-final due to what appeared to be an illegal back-to-chest turn. McCune took the silver behind last year’s American Alex Walsh. Walsh was the fastest qualifier for Monday’s final.

The Swimming World Finals continue Monday at 7 a.m. ET, live peacock.