Marchand Wins 200 IM, Sun Devils Move to Second on Day 2 of Pac-12 Championships

SEATTLE – Two nights, two Pac-12 titles for the freshman Léon Marchand.

Marchand followed up an 800 free relay win on Wednesday with a huge win in the 200 IM on Day 2, touching the wall at 1:39.65 for a new school record, a new Pac-12 Championship meet record and now the fastest time in the nation. The Toulouse, France, native, who became ASU's first 200 IM winner since 2000, is the third Men's Swimming individual champion of the Bob Bowman era.

Marchand has been a pivotal piece through two nights of competition at the Pac-12 Men's Swimming Championships, as has fellow 200 IM-er Grant House. House finished just behind Marchand in the 200 IM, placing second at 1:40.66. Had it not been for Marchand in front of him, House's time would have overtaken the previous school record.

After the end of Day 1, the Sun Devils sat in fifth-place. Twenty-four hours later, they jumped a trio of spots and are making fast ground on leader Stanford. A top-three finish or better would be the best showing at the conference tournament in the Bob Bowman era.

TEAM STANDINGS AFTER DAY 2 
1. Stanford University             363.5  
2. Arizona State University     261.5
3. University of Arizona           233.5  
4. California University, Berkeley  221.5
5. Southern California, University    209  
6. Utah, University of               183

COACH'S WORDS
Head coach Bob Bowman: "We had an outstanding session tonight highlighted by our 1-2 finish in the 200 IM.  Our relay shattered the ASU record and is placed well for the NCAAs.  We had great energy and spirit and enter tomorrow morning with strong momentum.  We will need to bring the heat to setup the rest of our meet."

The Sun Devils crammed the top of the leaderboards all night at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

They had four finish in the top-10 in the 200 IM, four in the top-13 in the 500 free and three in the top-12 in the 50 free. And, as it's becoming a theme for the Sun Devils, it was another night of broken records.

NEW SCHOOL RECORDS
Julian Hill, 500 free (4:13.18)
Léon Marchand, 200 IM (1:39.65)
Jack Dolan, 50 free (18.97)
Dolan-House-Swift-Bybee, 200 free relay (1:15.40)

In setting a new school record – breaking his own time of 1:40.80 – Marchand became the fastest freshman to ever swim the 200 IM.

Leon Marchand Becomes Fastest Freshman Of All Time in 200 IM; Polonsky #3 https://t.co/pM1ItWuH8X

— SwimSwam (@swimswamnews) March 4, 2022

In the first event of the night, the 500 free, the Sun Devils received a boost with a fourth-place showing from Andrew Gray at 4:14.51. In the B final moments before, Julian Hill went 4:13.18 for a new school record. Despite the ninth-overall finish, Hill swam the third-fastest time in the entire final.

In the 50 free, Jack Dolan (19.13) and Cody Bybee (19.17) placed third and fourth, respectively, teaming up to grab 31 points for the Sun Devils.

In the 200 free relay, the final event of the night, the Sun Devils added another second-place finish. Jack Dolan, House, Carter Swift and Cody Bybee teamed up to go 1:15.40, a new school record and the sixth-best time in the nation this year. Leading off the relay, Dolan set a new program record in the 50 free at 18.97, breaking his previous record of 19.12.

Heading into the final two days of competition, the Sun Devils are in prime position for their highest team-finish since 1995, in which they placed second at the conference tournament.

Day 3 will be the most action-packed yet, with preliminaries for the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back beginning at 12 p.m. MST. Finals for the five events, plus the 400 medley relay, will commence at 7 p.m. MST. Fans can tune into the action via the Pac-12 Network Live Stream or via the Pac-12 Now Live app.

FOLLOW ALONG
To stay up to date with the Sun Devils' record-setting week in Seattle, follow the team's Twitter account, @ASUSwimDive.