Michael Phelps Congratulates 19-Year-Old French Swimmer for Breaking Caeleb Dressel’s Record

This year’s NCAA swimming competitions have been eventful. From headlining controversies to records being broken, it has had its fair share of spills and thrills. Swimmers have kept their pace up and broken dived to greater heights in the competition this year. Among many, French swimmer Leon Marchand has come to the limelight for breaking Caeleb Dressel’s 200-meter individual medley short course record. Recognizing his stellar achievement, Michael Phelps congratulated him on Instagram by posting an appreciation story.

With Dressel setting a time of 1:38.13 in 2018, Marchand performed beyond expectations and posted a solid time, one for the ages. This left Phelps impressed and pumped for the young gun.

Michael Phelps congratulates Leon Marchand

Competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Leon Marchand rose to fame. With brilliant swimming technique, his stocks continue to pile up inside the swimming pool. Notably, during his time, Phelps won many gold medals for the individual medley event, be it 200 or 400-meters. Now, continuing on the same path, Marchand has raised a few eyebrows.

He recently set a record time of 1:37.69 seconds. The Arizona State swimmer broke Dressel’s record that he set back at the 2018 SEC Championships. Lauding him for his heroics, Phelps posted an Instagram story for the swimmer.

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Although his Olympics appearance did not materialize well, Marchand gained invaluable experience from the meet. During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he represented France in the competition and finished 18th in prelims while posting a time of 1:58.30.

Adapting from short course pools to long courses takes time, but the young prodigy has found his feet under ASU coach Bob Bowman. Phelps, in the meantime, would be proud of the upcoming swimmer who dominated the event that he used to love.

Phelps’ unique individual medley record

Apart from being adept in the butterfly events, Phelps is considered being the best swimmer in the world because of his dominance in the medley events. An event where a swimmer must specialize in all four strokes: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and the butterfly, Phelps dominated the competitions from start to finish.

After winning his fourth Olympic gold medal during the 200-meters individual medley competition, he created a record of becoming the only man to win four consecutive gold medals.

Undoubtedly, if all goes as planned, Leon Marchand has what it takes to become a stunning swimmer. Just 19, he has a long way to go to reach the legendary Michael Phelps’ stature. But after squashing Caeleb’s numbers, do you think Phelps’ records are next on his list?

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