BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Rising Sun Devil sophomore Léon Marchand set the swimming world ablaze on Day 1 of the FINA World Championships, winning the 400 IM with a time of 4:04.28, now a European record and good for the second-fastest performance ever.
Marchand made a run at Michael Phelps' record of 4:03.84, which was set at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He's now just the second Frenchman to ever win a medal at the World Championships. The other? His father, Xavier Marchand, who captured a silver medal in the 200m IM at the 1998 World Championships in Perth.