There was a little something to the hero of the Paris Olympic Games. Léon Marchand, resumed this week in Fort Lauderdale after four months of absence, was beaten on the 400 m swimming on Friday. Olympic champion and world record holder on his favorite distance, the French bowed after a superb duel in the last straight line with Bobby Finke. The American, Olympic champion of the 1,500 m last summer in Paris, signed a time in 4’13 “67 to get ahead of the Habs (4’13” 86).
“I am happy that Marchand has played a 200 m before! I did my best to hold out“Said Finke at the microphone of the diffuser. The two swimmers remained at a good distance from the world record set by the French in 2023 in Japan (04: 02.50).
Earlier in the afternoon, Marchand had suffered on 200 m freestyle, he who challenged herself to progress in crawl. The quadruple Olympic champion (200 m breaststroke, butterfly and 4 swimming, 400 m swimming) took 8th place in the final in 1’49 “66, far from the winner Carson Foster and his personal record (1’46” 44 in 2023). Marchand had swam faster in the morning in series (1’48 “05), for a day with four races.
-He returned to Austin, Texas, under the orders of Bob Bowman, after spending three months at the start of the year in Australia with the famous coach Dean Boxall. After being hit in a shoulder at the end of December, he had a fracture of fatigue at a coast in Australia. Marchand is one of the big names of swimming engaged in the Floridian competition, disputed from Wednesday to Saturday, where he still has to swim the 200 m breaststroke and 4 swimming.
WALSH marks the spirits, Ledecky beaten
The American Gretchen Walsh became the second swimmer in history on Friday in less than 25 seconds over 50 m butterfly (24 “93), at a distance from the world record of the Swedish Sarah Sjöström (24” 43). “I am very happy to have crossed the 25 -second barrier, it is an important brand, like the 55 seconds over 100 m butterfly, the 53 seconds over 100 m freestyle (crosses Thursday), and the 24 seconds over 50 m freestyle. I am happy to have succeeded two here. I like to follow the traces of Sarah Sjöström, my idol,” said Walsh Swimswam.
The nonuple Olympic champion Katie Ledecky, which had made a strong impression on 1,500 m then 400 m freestyle in the previous days, was beaten on 200 m freestyle (1: 55.51) by its compatriot Claire Weinstein (1: 54.93).
