Sawt Falasteen - Marchand says 'passion' burns bright on road to 2028 Olympics

The French superstar took an extended break from swimming after wowing his home fans with four individual golds at the Paris Olympics last year.

He announced his return in grand style in Singapore, smashing the 200m medley world record that had stood since 2011 on his way to gold.

He completed the double with another imperious victory in the 400m IM, touching the wall in 4min 04.73sec, more than three seconds ahead of Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita (4:08.32), with Russian Ilia Borodin (4:09.16) third.

Marchand said his performances showed he still has the hunger to succeed on the long road towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

"It's not perfect, because it's never perfect, but it's more than I expected, especially the world record in the 200m medley," said the 23-year-old.

"It shows that I still have a passion for swimming, that I love it.

"It's still what I like the most, and that I want to continue."

Marchand started the final in lane one after a below-par performance in the morning heats, which saw him qualify seventh fastest.

But normality was restored in the final as he took an early lead before obliterating his rivals as the race progressed.

Marchand broke Michael Phelps's 400m IM world record two years ago in Japan but his time in Singapore was more than two seconds outside his best mark.

"Physically, it was very difficult, more than usual," he said.

"I was really heavy in the water in breaststroke and crawl, but I gave it my all because I wanted to be close to my record."

E.Aziz--SF-PST