Overview

• Léon Marchand returned to competition after a six-month hiatus, finishing third in the 400m freestyle final at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series with a time of 3′48″87.
• He improved his personal best significantly, cutting nearly ten seconds off his previous time in the morning preliminaries, where he swam 3′52″77.
• Marchand remains below Yannick Agnel’s French national record of 3′43″85 but is using the event to experiment with freestyle as part of his long-term Olympic strategy.
• Coach Bob Bowman highlighted technical flaws in Marchand’s turns and transitions, emphasizing areas for improvement to enhance his efficiency and competitiveness.
• In addition to the 400m freestyle, Marchand participated in the 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley, focusing on rebuilding form and testing new events for future championships.