Twenty-year-old as of May ASU freshman swimmer Leon Marchand, who is from France, took 2 firsts (200IM, 200Brest) and one second 400IM at the NCAA D1 swimming championships and was declared top swimmer at the meet, a very rare accomplishment for a freshman, has done it again!

At the FINA Swimming World Championships in Budapest, this past week, Marchand, coached at the meet by ASU Coach Bob Bpwman, has won the World Championship gold medal in the 200 IM and 400 IM defeating the Tokyo Olympic gold medalists in both events. He also came in second for a Silver Medal in the 200 butterfly, pushing the Hungarian world record holder to a new world record in the process! Leon Marchand also pulled a "hat trick" and was voted by the coaches of the individual world swimming teams as the Outstanding Male Swimmer of the World Championships! an award he shares with Katie Ledecky who was the outstanding female swimmer.

The World Championships are second only to the Olympics in importance in world swimming.

I believe this is the first time ever, certainly in the last 50 years, that a male swimmer has been the top swimmer in both the NCAAs and in the World Championships, and the first time a freshman has accomplished this feat!