European Swimming Championships: 'It was tough…' Léon Marchand reaches 400m freestyle final

French swimming sensation Léon Marchand has secured his spot in the 400m freestyle final at the European Championships. The 24-year-old Olympic champion faced a challenging preliminary race on Sunday morning but managed to achieve one of the eight fastest times.

Marchand, who recently won the 200m butterfly, acknowledged the difficulty of the 400m freestyle, a distance he is relatively new to. "It was tough. Like a 400 freestyle. I'm happy, I swam the race I needed to," he stated after the event. He noted the competitive times in his heat, with swimmers clocking in around 3 minutes and 45 or 46 seconds.

Despite the effort, Marchand finished second in his heat with a time of 3'45"85. He described the final 100 meters as particularly demanding. "The last two lengths were a bit hard," he admitted. "We all looked at each other for 300 meters. Then, I saw the German (Martens) start to push, Lucas (Henveaux) on the other side, and me too. I wanted to try to win my heat, but it swam faster on the other side of the pool, it's okay."

Looking ahead to the final, Marchand expressed uncertainty about his remaining potential but is focused on enjoying the race. "I don't know. I did the job this morning, but I think I can start faster. Maybe that's where I can play my chance, but after, I don't know, it's a final, so I'll try to have as much fun as possible." Another French swimmer, 16-year-old Sauveur Cristofini, narrowly missed the final, finishing 10th with a time of 3'46"98.