New Men’s Swimming Stars? Leon Marchand, Fellow Paris Champions Limit Opportunities
In 14 individual men’s events contested at the Paris Olympics, exactly one featured a repeat gold medalist, with defending champions shut out until Bobby Finke taking gold in the 1500 freestyle on the final day of competition. Of the winners in the other 13 events, only two others had ever captured individual medals of any color at a previous Games.
Leon Marchand led the charge, of course, as he captured four gold medals, all in Olympic-record time, but the 22-year-old Frenchman is not alone among a generation of stars that could dominate the sport for years. An opportunity for the next generation? Hardly, not with so many big-name swimmers building major momentum for themselves going forward.
Marchand is only 22, and it’s hard to imagine anyone beating him in an individual medley race in the coming years. He already has the world record in the 400 IM, and he won Olympic gold in the event by almost six seconds, and the 200 medley mark is next on his target list after he missed the record by just six hundredths at the Games.
In the 200 breast, perhaps the only person capable of beating Marchand is Qin Haiyang, the world-record holder in the event, provided he can bounce back from a disastrous Olympics. In the 200 fly, Kristof Milak is not likely to fall off the map, and we can look to Marchand’s former Arizona State teammate Ilya Kharun, a 19-year-old who represents Canada, but Kharun is already established after winning two butterfly medals in Paris.
With Marchand’s dominance in mind, what opportunities exist for breakthroughs? They are sparse. Consider:
- Pan Zhanle set a stunning world record of 46.40 in the 100 free in Paris, and days later, he celebrated his 20th birthday with a come-from-behind victory in the men’s 400 medley relay.
- David Popovici, the Romanian king of the 200 free and former world-record holder in the 100 free, turns 20 this weekend.
- Milak, 24, won Olympic gold in the 100 fly with Canadians Josh Liendo and Kharun plus Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, all 23 or younger, on his tail.
- Hubert Kos, Marchand’s training partner at ASU and now at Texas, looks like the new dominant force in the 200 backstroke.
- The 400 free Olympic podium consisted of Lukas Martens, Elijah Winnington and Kim Woo-min, all between the ages of 22 and 24. And we are only one year removed from Sam Short and Ahmed Hafnaoui blasting 3:40s at the World Championships, even though Short had a lackluster year and Hafnaoui missed Paris altogether.
Chances for a shuffling of the order among top finishers in the coming years? Sure, but not exactly a lot of opening for the next group of teenagers to break through and become stars. So where might we see some upheaval?
What’s Next For 100-Meter Stars?
Who can join Thomas Ceccon as standout swimmers in the men’s 100 backstroke? — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Four of the six men who won Olympic medals in the 100 backstroke and breaststroke were 28 or above, and the youngest of that group, China’s Xu Jiayu, has since turned 29. Ryan Murphy has placed in the top-four in the 100 back at every major meet since the 2016 Olympics while Xu returned to the top-three after winning world titles in the 100 back in 2017 and 2019. World-record holder and gold medalist Thomas Ceccon is just 23, but South Africa’s Pieter Coetze, 20, and Great Britain’s Oliver Morgan, 21, have both made huge improvements this year.
As for the breaststroke event, Adam Peaty just missed a chance at a three-peat as he tied with 31-year-old Nic Fink for silver, just behind 25-year-old gold medalist Nicolo Martinenghi. Only two swimmers in the final were younger than 25, with no one younger than 23. Certainly, the 25-year-old Qin could return to his 57-second form from last year, but it’s realistic for some under-the-radar youngster to move through the rankings in the coming years.
Freestyle Opening?
The splash-and-dash is often the realm of veterans, and indeed, this year’s Olympic medalists were ages 30, 29 and 33, respectively, with 31-year-old Kristian Gkolomeev and 27-year-old Caeleb Dressel within hundredths of the podium. We’ll see what decisions these veterans make about their future, but it seems like a long shot that all will still be among the main players four years from now in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, 30-year-old Gregorio Paltrinieri reached the podium in distance freestyle for his third consecutive Olympics. Finke, 24, looks unlikely to depart the scene while 23-year-old Irish swimmer Dan Wiffen has emerged, but there are openings: 1500 finalists in Paris included 21-year-old Hungarian David Betlehem, 17-year-old Turkish swimmer Kuzey Tuncelli and 19-year-old Tunisian Ahmed Jaouadi. Tuncelli, who set multiple world junior records this year, could be a future star.
