Léon Marchand qualified for the 400m freestyle final at the European Championships

Léon Marchand will be there for the 400m freestyle final this Sunday, shortly after 7:20 p.m. The day after his first European title in the 200m butterfly, the 24-year-old from Toulouse fulfilled the first objective he had set for himself over a new distance for him.

In the same series as a certain Lukas Martens, the German holder of the world distance record, the four-time Olympic champion was not idle, as he himself readily admitted after his intense effort. “It was hard. Like a 400 crawl. I'm happy, I did the right race. It wasn't easy this morning. At five tenths, I don't think it works. Everyone swam 3’45” or a little 3’46”. Before the race, in the call room, we all looked at how it swam. I think that’s why we were a bit rushed on the last series. But it was good. »

In the end, Marchand finished 2nd in his series in 3'45''85, with a final 100 meters where he worked hard. “The last two pitches were a bit hard,” he confirms. “We all looked at each other for 300 meters. Afterwards, I saw that the German (Martens) started to put his legs, Lucas (Henveaux) also on the other side and me too. I wanted to try to win my heat, but it swam faster on the other side of the pool, it doesn't matter. »

As for knowing if he has any left under his feet for the final, the Toulouse native has no certainty: “I don’t know. I did the job this morning, but I think I can leave faster. Maybe that's where I can play my luck, but after that, I don't know, it's a final, so I'll try to have fun as best I can. »