Marchand claims two European titles and French record as swimming championships close in Saint-Denis

Marchand doubles up in Saint-Denis

Léon Marchand closed the European Swimming Championships in Saint-Denis with two individual continental titles and four medals from four appearances, competing on a reduced program due to a persistent right adductor injury. The 24-year-old from Toulouse won gold in the 200m butterfly earlier in the week, then added the 400m freestyle title on Sunday 16 August, his first international race at that distance. He also took silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay and bronze in the 4x100m medley relay.

His 400m freestyle victory delivered a new French record of 3:43.14, erasing the 3:43.85 set by Yannick Agnel in 2011. Marchand led from the start and held off Hungary's Oliver Papai by more than a second. Six days earlier, he had opened the 4x200m freestyle relay with a 1:43.76 split that pointed to his freestyle ambitions. After the 400m, he described the race as a step into the unknown.

At this level, I had quite a bit of pressure, doubts. I didn't know how to go about it and I swam a great race from start to finish.

He immediately looked ahead to refinements in his starts, strategy and underwater work, saying there were many things he could improve. Freestyle, long a secondary stroke in his repertoire, is now central to his plans.

I think I've found my thing, really. I think for freestyle, I really want to keep going on this path.

French squad depth and two retirements

Mary-Ambre Moluh, 20, won gold in the 100m backstroke and the mixed 4x100m medley relay, plus silver in the 50m backstroke. Maxime Grousset took European silver in the 50m butterfly and proved valuable across the relays. Sauveur Cristofini, 16, earned silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay, his first senior international medal.

Two Olympic medalists announced their retirement during the championships. Florent Manaudou, 35, the 2012 Olympic champion in the 50m freestyle, had been present in a different role, interviewing Marchand after his 200m butterfly title. Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, 26, a naturalised Russian who won Olympic silver in the 1500m in Paris, also stepped away from competition.

Tight finishes and other swimming golds

Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania, the 2012 Olympic champion in the 100m breaststroke, won the 50m breaststroke European title in 29.93 seconds. She edged Italy's Benedetta Pilato (29.94) and Ireland's Mona McSharry (29.95) by hundredths.

Ukraine's Nikita Sheremet, 19, took the 50m freestyle title in 21.13 on Saturday 15 August, ahead of neutral-banner Russian Egor Kornev. Hungary's Hubert Kos won gold in the 200m individual medley.

Athletics in Birmingham: Duplantis, French silvers

The European Athletics Championships in Birmingham yielded no French titles. Armand Duplantis secured his fourth consecutive European pole vault crown. France's Baptiste Thiery took bronze, the 11th and final medal for the French team.

Alice Finot, 35, lost the 3000m steeple title she won two years ago but claimed silver. Muhammad Abdallah Kounta took silver in the 400m, and Just Kwaou-Mathey was narrowly beaten in the 110m hurdles.

Weekend across other sports

RC Lens opened its season by defeating PSG in the Trophée des Champions on Sunday evening. In Zagreb, 16-year-old Elena Colas impressed at the European Gymnastics Championships. The swimming and athletics European Championships ran simultaneously in Saint-Denis and Birmingham, with both concluding on the same weekend. Marchand now targets the short-course World Championships in Beijing, scheduled for 1 to 6 December 2026, with the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as the longer-term objective.