Is it me or did anyone else think that Michael Phelps' 400m IM World Record wasn't going to get
broken for a very, very long time? Well, French swimming sensation Leon Marchand
has well and truly blown that thought right out the window as he swims within .4 of a
second of that incredible World Record in what was one of the swims of the 2022 World Champs.
I think it's worth another look... There it is - the 4:03.84 that Phelps set in Beijing.
I mean he destroyed the field that day. I didn't think anyone was gonna get anywhere near it
quite frankly. 4:03.84, just absolutely sensational. This is a very solid field:
Chase Kalisz in three - Olympic champion from Tokyo, Leon Marchand of course, Carson Foster,
Daiya Seto, Honda, Smith, Clareburt. This is a very solid field, I mean very competitive.
I suppose going in you just didn't know who was going to win it. I actually thought
Carson Foster had a very good chance of winning it, along with Leon Marchand of course. They are
the top two in the end ultimately. Very strong fly across the whole field to be honest with you here.
Seto, Honda, Marchand, Carson Foster, yeah they've all got solid flys. So they all kind of turn near
enough the same here. You can get a little look at a Leon Marchand's underwaters here. Maybe a little
bit underrated to be honest with you. You can kind of see he's pulling away from Carson Foster who,
you know Americans have very good underwaters. Very underrated underwaters that Leon Marchand
has, or not many people have been talking about it. They've just been talking about the backstroke
split and the breaststroke split which we'll get on to of course. But in terms of tactics for 400
IM, you kind of want to get through this fly leg of the race without using any energy whatsoever.
I mean you're going to use some of course but you're trying to get through it, easy speed
is what you're trying to use here. And the underwaters again from Marchand a little bit
underrated I would say because he is taking, I wouldn't say chunks, but he's you know getting
a good couple of inches over Carson Foster who's very solid at the underwaters of course.
I would probably say for Marchand here this is probably the weakest leg the backstroke.
He keeps it nice and long to be fair, the stroke rate isn't very high,
the leg kick is there mainly for balance I would say at this point.
Yeah here we go, the underwaters. It's very good, it's very solid. He uses a lot of the 15m,
doesn't go for the full 15 but he goes at least 10m. Finds himself on the lane line, doesn't give
Carson Foster any sort of advantage in terms of getting on a slipstream for example, riding a wave
in any way. But it looks very comfortable from Marchand here. No real effort and yet he's able to
go... The split on this 100m was a 63. That's very good for a 100m backstroke split on a 400 IM. But
this is where the difference has been made - the 100m breaststroke split here. If you have a look a
little bit at this underwater shot here, he kind of squeezes his feet, almost like a very quick
snap action and that's really where the propulsion comes from. Snap your feet together, get yourself
into that narrow position, more streamlined means you're creating less drag which means you're more
efficient and your distance per stroke is higher. Everything is better ultimately - speed increases.
And with every stroke he's pulling away from Carson Foster here. No one is going to be able
to live with Leon Marchand's breaststroke in the IM world. I mean he's a very solid 200
breaststroker as it is. I think going off the top of my head I think he's done a 2:09/2:10.
I mean that's world-class 200 breaststroke alone but to put it in a 400 IM, I mean a 1:07 for 100m
breaststroke split is exceptional. Pulling away with every stroke here. The stroke count again
isn't very high or the stroke rate I should say is not very high. And this is where everyone got
excited when you see the World Record line is at his hips. I couldn't believe what I
was seeing at this point, it's on his hips! 1.1 secs ahead of Michael Phelps' World Record split.
Again fantastic under waters, it should be spoken about more. We're gonna have an overhead shot in
a second where you can kind of see the catch under the water. His left hand kind of goes out a little
bit, the fingers point to his left rather in front, which is probably something that he could
probably work on I would say. Phelps was a very good freestyler of course so it was going to catch
him up a little bit. But even now I think going into his turn 0.3 ahead was it? Yeah 0.3 ahead
of that World Record. Fantastic underwaters again. And at this point you just got to get those arms
motoring, got to get the legs going off of course - you can see the six-beat leg kick, the white
water behind him - he's really going for it. And his head down, really charging and it just escapes
him this World Record towards the end. But do you remember me saying at the start that the field was
properly elite, he has blown this field away - absolutely destroyed it. The time 4:04.28,
only 0.4 outside the World Record that Phelps set in Beijing. Just outstanding honestly. He's
clearly happy about it. And if I remember he came in with a 4:09 if I remember right, so he's gone
five seconds faster than he's ever gone before. That is just unheard of. I can't believe someone
has done that. For me, I would say this is definitely up there with one of the best races,
if not the best race of the whole World Champs, and being on the first day as well,
I mean that set the tone for the whole meet. It was a fantastic swim from Leon Marchand. And
honestly I think that World Record is going, it's only a matter of time. That breaststroke leg that
he has is just... no one can compete with it. It's absolutely fantastic! I can't wait to see what he
does, I really can't. Well what's your thoughts then guys? Does Leon Marchand eventually break
that Michael Phelps 400m IM World Record that most thought would be untouchable? With that awesome
breaststroke that he has and with one of, if not the best medley coach in the world, surely it's
a matter of time. Let us know what you think in the comments below. That's it for this video guys,
thank you very much for watching. Please give it a like if you've enjoyed it, share it with
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for more swimming content that is coming your way very soon. I'll catch you on the next one!