SwimSwam Leon Marchand Opts Out of Short Course World Championships

Marchand Withdraws From SC Worlds: The Short Course World Championships lost some major star power with the announcement that Leon Marchand won't compete in Budapest after a historic year in the pool.

Also: The U.S. makes some roster adjustments for SC Worlds, psych sheets for the U.S. Open are released, and Cameron McEvoy highlights the action at the Japan Open.

Leon Marchand Pulls Out of Short Course Worlds

After an incredible 2024 that included winning four Olympic gold medals on home soil in Paris, Leon Marchand is ending his year early.

Marchand announced on Instagram that he's withdrawing from the 2024 Short Course World Championships due to fatigue from his hectic, record-breaking year.

“I’ve decided to pull out from the World Championships in Budapest," Marchand wrote. "2024 was really intense, I’ve done a lot of big competitions and I’m exhausted. It’s time for me to step back, train hard and start preparing future challenges. I know you will understand and I’m excited for what’s ahead.”

Marchand pulling out from the competition is a big blow for swim fans as his Short Course World Championship debut was highly anticipated given what he's been doing all year, namely setting records.

The 22-year-old set Olympic Records en route to golds in the men's 200 breast (2:05.85), 200 fly (1:51.21), 200 IM (1:54.06) and 400 IM (4:02.95) at the Olympics in Paris, and added a fifth medal, a bronze, on the French men's 4x100 medley relay.

Racing short course meters for the first time in a few years, Marchand won the overall title for the men at the 2024 World Cup, sweeping the 100, 200 and 400 IM at all three stops of the series, setting a new world record in the men's 200 IM at the finale in Singapore.

In addition to Marchand, several other big names have withdrawn from Short Course Worlds in recent weeks, most notably fellow individual 2024 Olympic champions Kristof Milak, Nicolo Martinenghi, Thomas Ceccon, Kaylee McKeown and Torri Huske.

Most recently, American male backstroker Hunter Armstrong added to the names who have dropped out.

The 2024 Short Course World Championships will run December 10-15 in Budapest.

Douglass, Walsh & Andrew Add 100 IM To Short Course Worlds Lineup

Event lineups are not finalized and official psych sheets have yet to be released, but the United States has made some lineup adjustments for next week's Short Course World Championships.

As expected, Gretchen Walsh and Kate Douglass have been announced as the American entrants in the women's 100 IM, with Walsh having broken the world record during an NCAA dual meet in October, just hours after Douglass had broken the American Record racing at the World Cup in Shanghai.

When USA Swimming announced its initial roster for SC Worlds, there were no 100 IM entrants, allowing swimmers to use the final few months of the qualification window to hit the 'A' standard. Douglass was a no-brainer, and the only question regarding Walsh's entry was her eligibility, given her world record swim was done during a collegiate dual meet, which was not an official qualifying event for Worlds. The swim needed to be approved by World Aquatics for qualification, which it was.

On the men's side, Michael Andrew has added the 100 IM to his event schedule, along with the 50 back, giving him four entries for the meet (also in 50/100 breast) following the withdrawal of Hunter Armstrong, who was entered in the 50 and 100 back.

Douglass has won a combined 12 medals over the last two SC World Championships in 2021 and 2022, including five gold (two individual) medal haul two years ago in Melbourne. This will be her first time racing the 100 IM at the meet, however, while Walsh will be making her SC World Championship debut.

Andrew, on the other hand, has raced the 100 IM at the last four SC World Championships, winning gold in 2016, silver in 2018, placing 17th in 2021 and then placing 5th in 2022.

USA Swimming will finalize its event lineups, with the potential of adding another man to the 100 back, in the coming days.

Collegiate Swimmers Highlight U.S. Open Psych Sheets

The 2024 U.S. Open will run this week from Greensboro, with the annual event returning to the short course yards format for the first time in recent memory after it's been contested in long course meters over the last several years.

Given it's being raced in yards, some swimmers are headed to Short Course Worlds, many pros are just getting back into training after a post-Olympic break and some NCAA swimmers are racing their midseason invites this weekend, the U.S. Open field is smaller than we've seen in the past.

The field features a group of collegiate swimmers who finished up their midseason invites two weeks ago, including Texas A&M's Chloe Stepanek and UNC's Skyler Smith, while there are also a few pros in action including Olympic medalists Rhyan White and Drew Kibler.

2024 U.S. Open

• December 4th -7th , 2023
• Greensboro, N.C.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• How To Watch

In the NCAA, the marquee invitational meet scheduled this week will be the Minnesota Invite, running from December 4-7 with Cal and Harvard headlining the field along with the host Golden Gophers.

Olympic Champion Cam McEvoy Rips 21.70 50 Free At Japan Open

A handful of Australians joined the Japanese swimmers at the 2024 Japan Open, which wrapped up on Sunday and was contested in long course meters.

Highlighting the action was Cameron McEvoy, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the men's 50 free, who raced the event and posted the top time in the field in 21.70, a relatively quick swim given the time of year (when there are few long course competitions being held).

McEvoy won Olympic gold in Paris in a time of 21.25 and holds a lifetime best of 21.06 set at the 2023 World Championships.

Former Japanese National Record holder Katsumi Nakamura was the runner-up in 22.02, while his teammate Juran Mizohata rounded out the podium in 22.26.

• Watch the race here.

Another highlight from the competition was the performance of 17-year-old rising star Tatsuya Murasa, who set a new Japanese High School Record in the men's 200 free in a time of 1:45.72 to lower his previous record of 1:46.59 and rank him #4 all-time in the nation.

Alongside McEvoy, the other Aussie making headlines at the meet was Abbey Webb, the former Auburn and NC State swimmer in the NCAA who set new lifetime bests in the women's 100 free (54.06) and 200 free (1:56.68).

See full meet coverage here.

Quick Hits

• One of the big takeaways from the first week of midseason invites was the progression made by the Texas men's team as a whole in the 200 fly under new head coach Bob Bowman.
• Caeleb Dressel and his wife Meghan announced on social media last week that they're expecting their second child in June 2025. The two welcomed their first son, August, this past February.
• Fort Bend ISD in Houston has approved the construction of a new $29 million aquatics facility.
• Competing at the Russian Short Course Championships, Ilya Borodin posted a time of 3:57.67 in the men's 400 IM, overtaking Leon Marchand for #1 in the world this season. Borodin holds the European Record of 3:56.47 in the event, set en route to silver at the 2021 SC World Championships.
• The meet also saw new Russian Records set by Kirill Prigoda in the men's 100 breast (55.95) and Saveliy Luzin in the men's 800 free (7:33.97).
• Emily Brunemann Klueh, a former U.S. National Team member and USA Swimming staff member, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
• The Central Ohio Aquatics have re-broken the boys' 15-16 National Age Group Record in the 200 free relay, with the quartet of Austin Carpenter, Jacob Lloyd, Caden Mahl, and Bradley King combining for a time of 1:21.63.
• A new state-of-the-art facility, “Cité de la Natation," has been approved for construction in Leon Marchand's hometown of Toulouse.

Leon Marchand Pulls Out of Short Course Worlds

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Olympic Champion Cameron McEvoy Hits 21.70 50 Free At 2024 Japan Open (Video)

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Fort Bend ISD in Texas Approves Construction of New $29 Million Aquatics Facility