This was Leon Marchand's first race of these World Championships and coming into the semi-finals he was completely fresh and it showed. He proceeded to swim a massive personal best and beat the previous world record in this event of 1:54.00 by over 1.3 seconds which has stood since 2011. His 1:52.69 put him comfortably fastest into the final where he again dominated the race and won the gold medal. His 1:53.68 wasn’t as fast as his new world but still underneath the previous world record held by Ryan Lochte for over a decade. Marchand’s University of Texas teammates completed the podium with American Shaine Casas taking the silver medal in 1:54.30, and Hungarian Hubert Kos taking the bronze in 1:55.34. Marchand will look to continue his dominance in this event and improve the world record even further over the next few years.

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