NCAA Men’s Championships: Leon Marchand Goes 3-for-3 with 200 Breast Record

leon-marchand-
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

NCAA Men’s Championships: Leon Marchand Goes 3-for-3 with 200 Breast Record

The vocabulary is left wanting these days when it concerns Leon Marchand. The Arizona State sophomore not only keeps winning, not only keep setting records, but keeps doing them in such dominant fashion and by such varied means as to make describing them as futile an effort as trying to best him.

Marchand made it 3-for-3 at the 2023 NCAA Men’s Championships by obliterating the field in the men’s 200 breaststroke. He went 1:46.91 to lower his NCAA record. He was more than two seconds clear of the field.

Second was Texas’s Caspar Corbeau in 1:49.15. Minnesota’s Max McHugh was third in 1:49.91.

Marchand and McHugh went 1-2 last year, with the race following an expected template. McHugh, the 100 breast specialist, went out fast and led after 150 meters. But Marchand reeled him in, outsplitting him by nine tenths over the final 50 to win by .56 seconds.

Saturday, Marchand just went and dared the rest to come get him. They didn’t. He was out in 50.65, 1.3 seconds up on Corbeau. His lead grew to near two seconds after 150 yards.

“It was a different swim today,” Marchand said. “I felt a little bit sick today so that was kind of hard. I just tried my best to win the race and push a little bit my record, so 1:46 was great.”

The points also help Arizona State keep pressure on California, though it’s likely to late for that. But it gives them a 38-point cushion over Texas in the battle for second. It’s a big part of what Marchand finds to exhilarating, even among his three NCAA records this week.

“I’m just very happy to be in this team,” he said. “We’re building something special, and each year is better, so I’m excited for next year too.”

Corbeau hung tough and was under the pool record Marchand set in the morning. But that was still well back. McHugh added another medal in this event, which he’d won in 2021.

Fourth was Josh Matheny of Indiana in 1:50.12. Florida’s Aleksas Savickas was fifth in 1:50.48. Savickas helped the Gators leap past NC State and into fourth place. Cal’s Jason Louser finished sixth, with Carles Coll Marti of Virginia Tech seventh. He’d been fourth last year. Andres Puente Bustamante rounded out the top eight.

Louisville’s Denis Petrashov surged late to win the B final in 1:51.23, three tenths up on 1:51.53. Jake Foster helped Texas’ case by going from 16th in prelims to 11th overall, though Arizona State’s David Schlicht checked that by taking 10th place.

Event 18  Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
=========================================================================
         NCAA: N 1:47.67  3/4/2023  Leon Marchand, Arizona St
         Meet: M 1:47.91  3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas
     American: A 1:47.91  3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas
   U. S. Open: O 1:47.67  3/4/2023  Leon Marchand, Arizona St
         Pool: P 1:49.64  3/25/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
    Name                 Year School            Prelims     Finals Points 
=========================================================================
                       === Championship Final ===                        
 
  1 Marchand, Leon         SO ASU               1:49.64    1:46.91N  20  
    r:+0.67  23.76        50.65 (26.89)
        1:18.42 (27.77)     1:46.91 (28.49)
  2 Corbeau, Caspar        SR Texas             1:49.98    1:49.15P  17  
    r:+0.66  24.41        51.96 (27.55)
        1:20.18 (28.22)     1:49.15 (28.97)
  3 McHugh, Max            5Y Minnesota         1:50.64    1:49.91   16  
    r:+0.67  24.52        52.20 (27.68)
        1:20.71 (28.51)     1:49.91 (29.20)
  4 Matheny, Josh          SO Indiana           1:51.24    1:50.12   15  
    r:+0.52  24.93        53.01 (28.08)
        1:21.42 (28.41)     1:50.12 (28.70)
  5 Savickas, Aleksas      FR Florida           1:50.98    1:50.48   14  
    r:+0.67  24.64        52.45 (27.81)
        1:21.18 (28.73)     1:50.48 (29.30)
  6 Louser, Jason          SR California        1:51.43    1:50.90   13  
    r:+0.71  24.58        52.52 (27.94)
        1:21.07 (28.55)     1:50.90 (29.83)
  7 Coll Marti, Carles     JR VT                1:51.44    1:51.20   12  
    r:+0.61  24.86        53.34 (28.48)
        1:21.91 (28.57)     1:51.20 (29.29)
  8 Puente Bustamante, An  SR TAMU              1:50.86    1:51.66   11  
    r:+0.65  24.79        52.98 (28.19)
        1:21.85 (28.87)     1:51.66 (29.81)
 
                        === Consolation Final ===                        
 
  9 Petrashov, Denis       SR Louisville        1:51.53    1:51.23    9  
    r:+0.72  25.01        53.46 (28.45)
        1:22.27 (28.81)     1:51.23 (28.96)
 10 Maas, Derek            SR Alabama           1:51.96    1:51.53    7  
    r:+0.65  24.80        53.50 (28.70)
        1:22.39 (28.89)     1:51.53 (29.14)
 11 Schlicht, David        SO ASU               1:51.93    1:51.81    6  
    r:+0.65  25.08        53.58 (28.50)
        1:22.50 (28.92)     1:51.81 (29.31)
 12 Foster, Jake           SR Texas             1:52.26    1:51.85    5  
    r:+0.68  24.74        53.10 (28.36)
        1:22.17 (29.07)     1:51.85 (29.68)
 13 Epitropov, Lyubomir    5Y Tennessee         1:52.15    1:52.01    4  
    r:+0.65  25.30        53.54 (28.24)
        1:22.60 (29.06)     1:52.01 (29.41)
 14 Hillis, Dillon         5Y Florida           1:52.13    1:52.10    3  
    r:+0.67  25.33        54.02 (28.69)
        1:22.45 (28.43)     1:52.10 (29.65)
 15 Bustos, Arsenio        SO NC State          1:52.21    1:52.29    2  
    r:+0.53  24.83        53.13 (28.30)
        1:22.33 (29.20)     1:52.29 (29.96)
 16 Whitley, Reece         5Y California        1:51.74    1:52.93    1  
    r:+0.74  25.15        53.46 (28.31)
        1:22.67 (29.21)     1:52.93 (30.26)
 
                 Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 18                  
 
  1. California                        414   2. Arizona St                        384
  3. Texas                             346   4. Florida                           308
  5. NC State                        304.5   6. Indiana                           286
  7. Tennessee                       172.5   8. Virginia Tech                     119
  9. Stanford                        115.5  10. Auburn                            105
 11. Georgia                            90  12. Ohio St                          81.5
 13. Louisville                         80  14. Texas A&M                          76
 15. Virginia                           67  16. Missouri                         62.5
 17. Notre Dame                         62  18. Lsu                              53.5
 19. Alabama                            47  20. Minnesota                          36
 21. Southern California                31  22. Wisconsin                          27
 22. UNC                                27  24. Michigan                           24
 25. Utah                               14  26. Siuc                               13
 26. Kentucky                           13  28. Columbia                           12
 29. Arizona                            10  30. Miami                               9
 31. Pittsburgh                          4  31. Penn St                             4
 31. Princeton                           4  34. Georgia Tech                        3
 35. Towson                              2  35. Air Force                           2
 37. Purdue                              1
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x