World Championships, Day 8 Prelims: Leon Marchand 7th in 400 IM
We’ve reached the final day of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, another chance for the trajectories of Summer McIntosh and Leon Marchand to intersect.
Both the Canadian teen and the French star were the leading lights of the Paris Olympics last summer. Both IM specialists have chosen different tacks for this summer’s build-up to the Singapore World Championships. McIntosh had widened her aperture, professing a desire for five gold medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and using Singapore as a dry run for it. She’s gone 3-for-4, the lone miss – and by any standard other than hers, bronze would not constitute a miss – coming Saturday in the 800 freestyle behind Katie Ledecky and Lani Pallister.
Marchand has pulled back. After the high of Paris, he’s limited himself to the IMs. The first result was a stunning world record in the 200 IM. The aim in the 400 is the same.
It didn’t work great in a sluggish – and for most of the field, it seemed, disinterested – prelims in the morning at which Marchand shut it down so early that he darn near missed the final, only getting in in seventh place. He’ll chase his record from an outside lane.
The 400 IMs, which are typically at the beginning of the Olympic schedule, find themselves at the end of the slate at Worlds. They’re the only individual prelims of the final day, which includes the men’s and women’s medley relay prelims to set up the final finals session Sunday night.
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Men’s 400 individual medley
The preliminaries of the 400 IM were almost a fiasco. The margin of difference was 0.69 seconds, to be exact.
That’s what separated Leon Marchand from not having a second swim in the men’s 400 IM. Marchand shut it down early in a slow second circle-seeded heat. That meant that in addition to Tomoyuki Matsushita, the winner of the fourth heat in a field-best 4:10.39, five swimmers from the previous heat beat Marchand. So he’ll be seventh tonight, ensconced in Lane 1 as he chases a world title.
Only Gabor Zombori (in 4:13.59) shielded him into the final. Balazs Hollo, also of Hungary is the first alternate in 4:13.89.
Struggle or not, at least Marchand showed up. That’s more than can be said of three swimmers in the circle-seeded heats. Carson Foster withdrew with an ankle injury. Tristan Jankovics of Canada and China’s Wang Shun also bowed out of the first circle-seeded heat, as well as Matt Sates from the prior heat.
That meant Asaki Nishikawa had empty lanes on either side of him. The Japanese teen used that clean water to win the third heat in 4:10.41, .02 behind his countryman. Ilia Borodin was third overall in 4:10.63, followed by heat-mates Max Litchfield (4:11.41), Maxim Stupin (4:11.53) and Brendon Smith (4:13.08), all from heat 3.
Among those missing out are Lewis Clareburt, the winner of the 2024 world title, who finished 10th. Italian Alberto Razzetti was 12th. And it’s yet another final without an American male, with Rex Maurer finishing 20th in 4:19.30, ninth in his (aforementioned slow) heat.
Women’s 400 individual medley
The women’s race provided none of the drama that the men did. Summer McIntosh was in control the entire way in the final heat of three, setting the top time of 4:35.56. Australian Jenna Forrester gave her a run at 300 meters, but McIntosh pulled away in the final 100 without really digging deep.
Forrester was the second overall seed in 4:36.17. The third seed is Heat 2 winner Yu Zidi, the 12-year-old Chinese wunderkind who went 4:36.49. She outfoxed Waka Kobori of Japan by .13 seconds coming home.
Good news is that two Americans are in the final, in a rare organized prelims in which each circle-seeded heat provided half of the finalists. Emma Weyant was third in the final heat, getting stronger on the way home to finished fifth in 4:36.75. Katie Grimes looked slow early but rallied to finish fourth in her heat and seventh overall in 4:38.26. Both Weyant and Grimes are swimming their first events of the meet.
Joining them in the final are Mio Narita of Japan in sixth and Freya Colbert of Great Britain, the latter edging out Ellen Walshe by .41 seconds.
Men’s 400 medley relay
In a week where so much has gone wrong for the United States, the staff left nothing to chance, rolling out Jack Alexy on the anchor leg. It was needed, with other teams using their big guns. And that tactic didn’t prevent some very big names from missing out.
The U.S. is the top seed in the final, but reigning Olympic champion China is out, finishing ninth. So is Australia, in a non-factor 11th despite Kyle Chalmers on the anchor.
The U.S. went with their A team, such as it is at the moment. Tommy Janton, Campbell McKean (assuming Josh Matheny remains unavailable), Dare Rose (promoted with the 100 butterfliers indisposed) and Alexy on the end for a 3:29.65. The U.S. won its heat, the second of three, by 1.42 seconds over the Dutch to punch their ticket early.
The Neutral Athletes B, unseeded given their international status, were second in 3:30.95, with Kliment Kolesnikov, Ivan Kozhakin, Andrei Minakov and Ivan Girev.
Italy won the third and final heat in 3:30.40, outdueling Canada. Ilya Kharun dropped a 49.98 on fly for the latter. Ludovico Viberti’s 58.56 on breaststroke led the Italians, who have changes available if they want with Thomas Ceccon.
The Dutch were fifth in 3:31.07, the middle 200 of Caspar Corbeau and Nyls Korstanje solid. Great Britain was sixth, thanks to Oliver Morgan’s strong leadoff leg and Matthew Richards on the end. France was seventh, Maxime Grousset coming home in 47.11 (and Leon Marchand a possibility for the final).
That left the eighth and final spot, with South Korea, fourth in Heat 2, to edge out China, fourth in Heat 3, by .15 seconds. Young-Boem Kim’s 51.12 on fly proved the difference despite China using Qin Haiyang (a so-so 59.58) and Pan Zhanle (an entirely mortal 47.76) off the end.
Also out is Australia, who didn’t exactly load it up. But they had Chalmers on the end and he provided just a 48.35. With a time of 3:32.87 that was .33 behind the South Koreans, anything in the 47s would’ve gotten them through.
Women’s 400 medley relay
There wasn’t much in the way of drama in the women’s race. The United States used what is likely a full B squad and led the way in 3:54.49, the top seed by 1.31 seconds over Australia. Katharine Berkoff, Lilly King, Claire Curzan (drafted into fly) and Simone Manuel were rock solid. They’ll likely all be replaced for the final – Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske, health permitting for all.
Australia was second in 3:55.60 with a much more enduring squad of Kaylee McKeown, Sienna Toohey, Alexandria Perkins and Mollie O’Callaghan. Its improvement will have to come from within.
Third was Germany, thanks to a 1:05.34 by Anna Elendt. China finished fourth in 3:56.70, though with a lot of ground to make up. Japan is also in the final, as is Canada, which ran out Kylie Masse on the front and Mary-Sophie Harvey (after scratching the 400 IM) on the end. Great Britain and the Neutral Athletes B round out the final, with a spread of 4.87 seconds from first to eighth.
That means the African record set by South Africa (Olivia Nel, Rebecca Mader, Erin Gallagher and Aimee Canny in 3:59.47) is good only for ninth. Italy and Sweden are also on the outs. The Netherlands was a DNS.
