Chartres (AFP)

Léon Marchand struck hard: at 19, the young swimmer labeled "generation 2024" invited himself to the Olympic Games in Tokyo by smashing his French record in the 400m medley of more than five seconds at the French Championships, Tuesday in Chartres.

Winner in 4:09:65 (for 4: 15.84 qualifiers), Marchand thus signs the third best world performance of the season, behind the reigning Japanese world champion Daiya Seto and the 2016 American Olympic vice-champion Chase Kalisz.

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"I do not realize at all!", Wonders the young Toulouse, whose previous national record, 4 min 14 sec 97, dated only at the end of March.

"Less than 4 min 10 sec, I did not do all the steps, it jumped suddenly but it does not matter, it suits me! Already, 4 min 14 sec, I would have been super happy , so 4 min 09 sec, that's too cool! It's totally! ", smiles this son of international swimmers, Xavier Marchand, 1998 vice-world champion in the 200m medley, and Céline Bonnet, qualified Olympic in 1992.

- "Unexpected performance" -

"I didn't have feelings of + phew + but when I saw that the pool was starting to rise a little, that I was far ahead, I said to myself: + I must be not bad +, says- it. I stayed all the way from start to finish, and voila! "

The boost is radical.

To the point that even for his trainer Nicolas Castel, it is a "somewhat unexpected performance".

“Today, he managed to put together several pieces of his puzzle, these things that we have been working on for several seasons,” he explains.

Usually "I do it step by step, not too much of a sudden ... The goal has always been to go to the Games (in Tokyo) and not necessarily just to participate. With this time, I will be able to play a bit. more ", relishes Marchand.

"We will have to ask ourselves a little, that we take a step back to have a reflection on the continuation, the preparation of the Games. We must not take the lead", warns Castel.

In medley too, but they over 200 m, Fantine Lesaffre (26 years old) and Cyrielle Duhamel (21 years old) have also composted their Olympic tickets.

But the first, 2018 European champion in the 400m medley, was beaten by the youngest, who improved her personal best by more than half a second: Duhamel won in 2 min 11 sec 57 ( for 2: 12.56 requested), when Lesaffre swam in 2 min 12 sec 47.

- Duhamel in front of Lesaffre -

"It was a somewhat mixed season, I had a lot of things to settle. Suddenly, to recover in 2 min 12 seconds, to qualify for the Games, it is a big relief", appreciates Lesaffre, worried lately by personal problems.

"It was a real test to qualify. It's successful, I will be able to approach the rest of the competition a little more serene and start work for the Games next week," she projects.

"I'm still on a cloud, it's a sick thing. I looked at the painting three times!", Says Duhamel.

"I didn't expect to go under 2 min 12 sec, I thought I would make the time ric-rac and I put a second in the qualifying time."

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"This is the culmination of a lot of work. I passed a mental level and it is felt in the water," adds the Northerner.

If this week of competition is the last chance of Olympic qualification for French swimmers, five of them already had their sesame in their pockets for several months, the selection system imagined by the blue team revolving around several phases: they are Florent Manaudou (50m), Marie Wattel (100m and 100m butterfly), Yohann Ndoye Brouard (100m backstroke and 200m backstroke), Mélanie Hénique (50m) and David Aubry (800m).

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