French swimmer Léon Marchand won the gold medal in the men's 400m freestyle at the European Swimming Championships in Paris on Sunday. He secured victory in a personal best and French national record time of 3 min 43.14 sec, taking his second gold medal of the competition.
Marchand finished ahead of silver medallist Oliver Papai of Hungary and Germany's Lukas Märtens, the world record holder in the event, who took bronze.
French national record
The victory marked a major milestone for Marchand in a discipline he had never fully explored at the highest level. His winning time of 3 min 43.14 sec beat his targeted goal of breaking his previous personal best of 3 min 44.10 sec set in December. The swim also erased the French national record previously held by Yannick Agnel.
The 400m freestyle victory came a day after Marchand won the first European title of his career, taking gold in the 200m butterfly on Saturday.
A new distance challenge
Speaking on Saturday before the event, Marchand said that while he had competed extensively in the 200m butterfly, he had done very little in the 400m freestyle. He explained that he expected more doubts heading into the 400m freestyle, but described it as a bigger challenge that could give him a lot of energy and motivation.
At the start of the competition, the quadruple Olympic champion had also warned that the 400m freestyle was a very exciting but also very mysterious event for him, adding that he was not really sure how to swim it.
Injury recovery and relay success
Marchand achieved the victory despite arriving in Paris diminished by a thigh muscle injury sustained at the French Championships. Following his individual win on Sunday 16 August, he returned to the pool to compete in the final of the 4x100m medley relay.
Swimming alongside French teammates Maxime Grousset, Yohann Ndoye Brouard and Carl Aitkaci, Marchand helped France earn a bronze medal in the relay event.
Background on French swimming stars
Marchand established himself among the elite of world swimming after winning four gold medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. His performance at the European Championships highlighted his expanding range into middle distance freestyle events.
By breaking Agnel's national record, Marchand surpassed a benchmark set by one of France's most decorated swimmers. Agnel won two gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics in the 200m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay, setting national records that stood for over a decade.
The European Swimming Championships are the premier biennial long-course aquatics competition governed by European Aquatics. The championships bring together top swimmers from across the continent to compete across individual and relay disciplines.
