2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Shortly after stunningly pulling off the fastest 50 breast relay split in history, Leon Marchand ended the first session of the 2023 NCAA Men’s Championship with another history-making performance.
The Arizona State student anchored the Sun Devils in the 800 freestyle relay with the fastest split time in history, finishing in 1:28.42, the first sub-1:29 time.
The fastest 200 free relay races so far were among them Dean Farrisalthough that came without the benefit of a season change.
Farris led at the 2019 NCAA Championships by 1:29.15 ahead of Harvard’s 800 free relay, which still stands as a US Open record in the 200 free, and the mark was so quick it took Marchand a Herculean effort to do so tonight someone with a faster will take over.
In fact, Marchand’s split appears to be almost a second quicker than the previous fastest split with one change produced by 1:29.66 Townley Haas on the Texas anchor leg in 2019.
Cals Destiny Lasco was also faster than tonight’s Haas split, coming in at 1:29.53 for Cal.
split comparison
| Farris, 2019 (forward) | Hate, 2019 | Marchand, 2023 | Laco, 2023 |
| 20.56 | 01/20 | 20.14 | 20.80 |
| 42.89 (22.33) | 42.39 (22.38) | 42.28 (22.14) | 44.04 (23.24) |
| 1:05.43 (22.54) | 1:05.56 (23.17) | 1:04.91 (22.63) | 1:06.88 (22.84) |
| 1:29.15 (23.72) | 1:29.66 (24.10) | 1:28.42 (23.51) | 1:29.53 (22.65) |
Even if we take out the first 50, Marchand beats Farris in the last 150 by 1:08.28 to 1:08.59 which shows how incredible the swim was. Lasco’s red-hot back half wasn’t far behind at 1:08.73
It was a clutch effort in the race itself, too, with the crowd on their feet as Marchand approached Texas. Carson Foster in the race for the season title.
Marchand dove behind the Longhorns in three seconds and was surrounded by a number of other teams. He took off and slowly but surely gained past his rival, eventually gaining 1.73 seconds for 200 yards.
Texas won in a new all-time record of 6:03.42, while Marchand’s performance put ASU in second place in 6:05.08.
With Marchand playing a crucial role, the Sun Devils have a narrow two-point lead going into the first two events of the championship.
Team scoring through 2 events at the men’s NCAA championships:
1. State of Arizona, 68
2nd NC State, 66th
3. Cal, 62
4.Florida, 60
5. Indiana, 58
6.Texas, 50
7.Louisville, 42
8. Maroon, 40
9. Stanford, 38
10. Alabama-Tennessee, 26#NCAASwimDive— SwimSwam Live (@SwimSwamLive) March 23, 2023
There were a handful of other under 1:30 swims in the 800m free relay, including 1:29.6 starts Blake Pieroni (1:29.63) and Kieran Smith (1:29.66) in the past.
Luke Hobson joined that club on Thursday and led Texas to victory with a lead-off time of 1:29.63, placing him fourth all-time in the individual event.