Leon Marchand reacts to top-two podium finish for Arizona State in 400y individual medley at the NCAA Championships

Leon Marchand recently commented on Arizona State University's double podium finish in the 400-yard individual medley at the ongoing NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Marchand, the gold medalist from the event oozed with confidence as he remarked about his university's clinical performances, especially in the individual medley events. In the 400-yard IM event, ASU's Leon Marchand and David Schlicht clinched the top-two finishes on the podium respectively.

With his run-time of 3:32.12, Marchand also cemented the pool record in the event, breaking the previous record by Chase Kalisz. Though he missed out on his record by a fraction more than three seconds, it was enough to take him comfortably over the line and clinch the top-podium finish. He also recently broke his 500-yard freestyle record at the ongoing 2024 NCAA Championships.

On the other hand, Marchand's teammate Schlicht finished just three seconds slower. Schlicht clocked a run-time of 3:35.27 and broke his personal record of 3:37.97 which he registered during the 2024 Pac-12 Championships.

After his victory at the event, Marchand quickly caught up for an interview. During the interview, the 21-year-old stated:

"ASU is definitely the IM University"

The Arizona State University has been breathing fire in the last few weeks or so. Led by their stars like Leon Marchand and Hubert Kos, they recently grabbed the Pac-12 Championships title comfortably.

Leon Marchand opens up about his 2024 Olympic preparations

Leon Marchand

Leon Marchand's rise to the ranks has been nothing short of a dream come true for the Toulouse native. Ever since he broke Michal Phelp's 400m IM record during the World Swimming Championships, Marchand has not looked back.

Besides, his form since the start of the season has been praiseworthy, and with such superb performances, the 21-year-old is surely one of the swimmers to watch out for during the Paris Olympics.

Recently, in an interview with Olympics.com, the Toulouse native opened up about his preparations and thought process for the event. He said:

"I'm really confident. I think I can do it. If I'm not, it's okay. I will prepare for the next one. But, I think this is the right time to do it. It's still going to be fun. Just meet all the swimmers around the world and just all those people watching sports. I think it's pretty rare"

He further added:

"I want to win. I want to be a Olympic champion. I don't know in which swim, in which event, I don't care. I just want to win. I just want to do as many swims as I can to. It's going to be really fun to do. So my first goal is to prepare as much as possible right now. Maybe we'll see what happened there, but, yeah, winning would be the best thing."

The Paris Olympics will be Marchand's second appearance in the event. As a 17-year-old, he already competed in the 400m medley finals during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.