French four-time Olympic gold medallist Léon Marchand won the 200m butterfly final at the European championships in Paris on Saturday to claim his first continental title, while German teenager Johannes Liebmann smashed the 1,500m freestyle world record.
Two years on from his exploits at the Paris Games, Marchand returned to form in the French capital as he put injury woes behind him to claim Euro gold in a world-leading time of 1 minute 51.72 seconds.
The 24-year-old finished a huge 2.34sec ahead of Hungarian silver medallist Richard Marton, with Greece‘s Apostolos Siskos rounding off the podium a further 0.04sec behind.
“It was a brilliant moment,” Marchand said.
“There was an absolutely mad atmosphere in the pool, I’ll remember it for a long time.
“The last 50 metres were really good. I think it’s the best 50 metres I’ve swum in a long time, but that also means I might have been able to get off to a faster start.”
Hampered by a thigh injury picked up at French nationals in June, Marchand has a reduced programme at the Euros.
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He won a silver medal with the 4x200m freestyle relay with France earlier this week and the Toulouse native will have another chance for gold on Sunday when he competes in the 400m freestyle.
Marchand’s gold was his country’s first individual title at these championships, but he soon had company in the form of Mary-Ambre Moluh when she won the 100m backstroke.
The 20-year-old’s 57.94sec finish was a European record. Marrit Steenbergen of the Netherlands and France’s Pauline Mahieu completed the podium.
Liebmann double
Liebmann bettered American Bobby Finke’s 2024 Olympics world record in the 1,500m freestyle by just shy of four seconds as he won a second gold of the Euros.
The 19-year-old clocked a time of 14min 26.79sec for victory, 12.66sec ahead of Hungary‘s Zalan Sarkany in silver and German Oliver Klemet in third.
Liebmann already broke a continental record this Euros when he claimed 800m freestyle gold on Wednesday.
Kasia Wasick of Poland stunned Sweden‘s Sarah Sjostrom and Italian Sara Curtis by claiming gold in the 50m freestyle in 23.84sec.
Sjostrom’s silver, 0.02sec adrift of Wasick, was the 30th European medal of the 32-year-old’s career.
Curtis, 19, who has already had a championships to remember after breaking the 50m backstroke world record twice, took bronze to bring her tally in Paris to five medals.
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Ireland‘s Ellen Walshe took gold in the 200m medley with a time of 2min 09.81sec.
After victory on Friday in the 400m medley, it was the 24-year-old’s second major long-course win.
“I can’t believe it,” Walshe told RTE Sport. “I don’t know how I was feeling coming into it, I don’t even know, I’m just so shocked.”
Italy’s Anita Gastaldi earned silver with a time of 2min 10.07sec and Belgian Roos Vanotterdijk finished third at 0.29sec.
Gastaldi’s compatriot Nicolo Martinenghi grabbed his second gold of the championships by touching the wall first in the 50m breaststroke.
His second gold this week in Paris brought his career European tally in individual events to four.
Martinenghi’s time of 26.57sec was 0.05 faster than Dutchman Koen de Groot and Italian Simone Cerasuolo.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
