World Record Watch (Men’s): Can Leon Marchand or Others Set New Standards at Worlds?
Amid his historic four-gold medal performance at the Paris Olympics, Leon Marchand came up just short of world-record pace every time out. In his opening victory in the 400 IM, he swam the second-fastest time in history, behind only his own world record from 2023. When he won two individual golds on night five, Marchand swam a time only Kristof Milak had ever beaten in the 200 butterfly before coming in behind only Qin Haiyang’s world record in the 200 breaststroke. Finally, Marchand ended up just six hundredths behind the 200 IM world record, a mark belonging to Ryan Lochte and dating back to 2011.
Perhaps this will be the year Marchand adds a second global long course record to his collection. It’s unclear if he will race all four of his main events at the World Championships in Singapore, particularly with a schedule conflict between the 200 breast and 200 IM, but he is always a threat to make history any time he enters the competition pool.
Meanwhile, world records in three out of six freestyle events have fallen within the past year, and those marks will certainly be under threat again. Here is a stroke-by-stroke look at what might happen beginning later this month at this year’s most consequential swimming event.
Freestyle
China’s Pan Zhanle — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
In Paris, Pan Zhanle blasted the world record in the men’s 100 free, getting down to 46.40 on the way to gold, and Bobby Finke swam the top time ever in a wire-to-wire win in the 1500 free. Earlier this year, Lukas Martens became the first man to crack 3:40 in the 400 free, erasing a suit-aided mark held for almost 16 years by German countryman Paul Biedermann. The 100 free record also got a scare last week when David Popovici swam the second-quickest mark ever at 46.71.
All of the world-record setters are favored for world titles in their respective events, with the potential to lower their top times. Pan and Popovici could push each other under the global mark in the 100, and Martens will also have competition in the eight-lap race, but a slightly slower pace in a Worlds final would not be unusual. As for the mile, it’s tough to see anyone getting down around the 14:30-barrier this year based on early-season indicators.
The records in the 50, 200 and 800 seem out of reach, despite Cameron McEvoy consistently putting up strong marks in the splash-and-dash and Popovici and Luke Hobson making inroads in the 200. Those times, all from the supersuit era, are too far ahead.
Backstroke
Perhaps a sprint backstroke world record could fall in Singapore. Kliment Kolesnikov will race at a major international competition for the first time since 2021, and he owns the world’s quickest 50 back in 2025 at 23.90, just 19-hundredths behind his own world record. Kolesnikov is also ranked first in the 100 back at 52.04, and while there have been six men swim under 52.5 already this year, they are still a long way off from the 51.60 that Thomas Ceccon posted in 2022.
As for the 200 back, no one has come close to the 1:51.92 of Aaron Peirsol since polyurethane suits were banned at the end of 2009. This mark and the aforementioned time in the 800 free will be around for many years to come.
Breaststroke
Adam Peaty remains the world-record holder in both sprint breaststroke events, and no one has posted times threatening his perch since Qin’s dominant performance at the 2023 World Championships. Qin returning to that form cannot be ruled out, and Ludovico Viberti recently became the third-fastest man ever in the 50-meter race, but these marks seem relatively safe. In the 200 breast, Marchand could challenge the record if he chooses to enter the race, and there is a smaller chance of Qin making a run if he is in top form.
Butterfly
Canada’s Josh Liendo — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Probably no records pending in butterfly this year. Ten men have been under 23 in the 50 fly, but nothing close to the long-untouched top mark of 22.27. For the 100-meter event, Kristof Milak is out for this year’s Worlds while Josh Liendo is the only other swimmer to break 50 in the last three years. Liendo and others, including 2023 world champion Maxime Grousset, remain a half-second or more behind Caeleb Dressel’s world record. And in the 200 fly, Marchand’s best is almost a second behind the world record of 1:50.34 set by Milak at the 2022 global meet.
Individual Medley
The record in the 200 IM is surely the most vulnerable men’s record this year after Marchand came up just short in his gold-medal swim last year in Paris. The Frenchman will be heavily favored for a third world title in the event, and he will only need to drop seven hundredths from his Paris time to become the first man ever to break 1:54. In the 400 IM, Marchand will be chasing his own record of 4:02.50, but the event has been moved to the final day of competition, where fatigue could hamper his chances at reaching the mark.
Our Guess
Unlike the women’s competition, the men’s event lineup for this year’s World Championships still features plenty of events with seemingly out-of-range world records surviving from the supersuit era. Additionally, records held by swimmers such as Peaty, Dressel and Milak appear untouchable, and only six events will feature the current world-record holder. With that in mind, combined with the tendency of tight major finals producing slower-than-expected winning times, we will conservatively guess that only one or two individual world records will be broken this time around.
I hope Marchand can get the 200IM WR.
The 100m Freestyle is another exciting prospect, where I want Popovici ti break it. Having King Karl under 47sec would be a bonus too!