400 m individual medley, men

What to remember

The 400 m individual medley has been the thread of Léon Marchand's career. Sixth in the 400 m medley at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, world champion and European record holder in Budapest in 2022, he swam the distance in 4 min 02.50 s on July 23, 2023, at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

The record carried extra weight: by breaking it, the Frenchman erased the last of Michael Phelps's world records still standing. Born in Toulouse and training in the United States, Marchand specialises in medley, breaststroke and butterfly. In 2024, at the Paris Olympics, he won four gold medals.

The event has been Olympic since 1964 for both men and women. The World Aquatics Championships have staged it since 1973, and their short course counterpart has done so from its launch in 1993. In long course, the women's record goes to Canada's Summer McIntosh. In short course, the men's record goes to Japan's Daiya Seto.