Leon Marchand of France set the world record in the men's 400-meter individual medley Sunday, breaking the last individual mark that Michael Phelps had held from his illustrious swimming career.
Marchand cruised to the gold medal in 4 minutes, 2.50 seconds at the world championships in Fukuoka in southwest Japan. That broke the long-standing mark of 4:03.84 set by Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Phelps had held individual world records in five different races. He still is part of the world records set by the United States in the 4x100 and 4x200 freestyle relays.
Marchand swims at Arizona State and is coached by Bob Bowman, the coach of the American team at the world championships. He is a potential hometown superstar going into next year's Paris Olympics and will also be the favorite in the 200 IM.