French Torpedo Marchand Smashes Phelps’s 15-year Record at Worlds

Gold medallist Leon Marchand of Team France (L) is congratulated by Michael Phelps during the medal ceremony for the Men's 400m Individual Medley Final on day one of the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships at Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall A in Fukuoka, Japan, on July 23, 2023. Adam Pretty/Getty Images

FUKUOKA, Japan—French youngster Leon Marchand produced a dazzling performance to shatter American great Michael Phelps’ long-standing 400 meters individual medley record on the opening day of swimming events at the World Aquatics Championships on Sunday.

Phelps’s mark of 4:03.84 set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was his last remaining individual world record but it fell to the 21-year-old Marchand who started superbly and clocked 4:02.50 to beat Carson Foster who took silver.