Marchand shines in 400m medley as O’Callaghan outpaces Titmus in 200m freestyle heats
French swimming star Leon Marchand delivered an impressive performance in the 400m medley on Sunday, while Mollie O’Callaghan outperformed Ariarne Titmus in the women’s 200m freestyle heats.
Marchand, trained by Michael Phelps’ former coach Bob Bowman, clocked 4:08.30 at La Defense Arena, thrilling the home crowd. Britain’s Max Lichfield finished over a second behind, and Japan’s Daiya Seto took third. Defending champion Chase Kalisz of the USA failed to make the final, ending his quest for a third Olympic podium finish.
“It was almost like a football stadium but in a pool. Everyone was chanting my name, it was crazy,” Marchand said. “I think I was prepared. I was able to stay in my performance. I had a very strong 250m and then I relaxed a little.”
Marchand aims to end France’s 12-year gold medal drought in swimming, also competing in the 200m medley and 200m butterfly.
In the women’s 200m freestyle heats, O’Callaghan led with a time of 1:55.79, followed by teammate Titmus, who showed resilience after winning the 400m title the previous day.
“Definitely hard to back up after last night, but I think I tried to stay as calm as I could last night and try and forget about what happened this morning really,” Titmus said.
David Popovici led the men’s 200m freestyle heats, clocking 1:45.65. Lithuania’s Danas Rapsys and Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux followed. Germany’s Lukas Martens and South Korea’s Hwang Sun-woo also advanced, while China’s Pan Zhanle fell short.
In other heats, South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker excelled in the women’s 100m breaststroke, outpacing China’s world champion Tian Qianting and Ireland’s Mona McSharry. American Lily King qualified fifth fastest.
Hungary’s Hubert Kos led the men’s 100m backstroke heats, with Ryan Murphy of the USA fourth and Italian world record holder Thomas Ceccon twelfth.
Sunday’s finals also include Adam Peaty’s bid for a third consecutive 100m breaststroke gold and American Gretchen Walsh’s pursuit of the women’s 100m butterfly crown after setting a world record at the US trials.
(Source: AFP)
