Flying Fish Phelps has been retired for 7 years, and his influence in the swimming world is still there, but many world records he has set have been broken one by one.
Before this year's Long Pool World Swimming Championships, he was left with only one of his best, the personal medley record of 4:03.84.84.400 meters set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
After nearly 15 years, another talented swimmer finally set the record, and Phelps' name disappeared from the world record.
Phelps' last world record
Phelps is the most successful and most decorated athlete in history, and he is good at butterfly swimming, with an average strength in the four styles, and the individual medley is the largest treasury outside of the butterfly, with 6 of the 23 Olympic gold medals coming from the individual medley (2004 and 2008 gold medals in the 200m and 400m medley, 2012 and 2016 gold medals in the 200m medley).
He has set 39 world records, including 29 individual and 10 relay records, more than any athlete on record, but his peak came to an end after the Beijing Olympics and he has not set another world record since 2009.
His records have been broken one after another, leaving only one 400m medley before this year's World Championships. He swam a new record of 4 minutes 11.09 seconds in 2002 and set a world record for the eighth time at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 400m individual medley record stood under his name for nearly 21 years, holding a record of 4:03.84 for nearly 15 years, and the 400m individual medley record finally changed hands when 21-year-old France's Leon Marchand swam 4:02.50 to wipe out Phelps' last world record.
Marchand, the new king of the medley in the swimming world
In fact, Marchand's record breaking this time is expected, the young athlete has dominated the 200m and 400m individual medley at the 2022 World Championships, swimming faster and faster, the last 400m IM won a new European record of 4 minutes 04.28 seconds, 0.44 seconds away from Phelps' record, the second fastest time in history, so there are high hopes from the outside world.
A year later, in the World Championship final in Fukuoka, Japan, he lived up to his promise, swimming 4 minutes 02.50 seconds faster, 1.34 seconds faster than Phelps' old record.
After the game, he said, "It's crazy, it's the most painful thing I've done, it's amazing to be able to do it here, it's crazy time", Marchand was not satisfied after setting a world result, saying: "The best is yet to come", showing ambition and confidence.
When Phelps broke the 400-meter medley record at the Beijing Olympics, Marchand was only 6 years old, and the flying fish came to Fukuoka to present him with an award this time, not only laughing generously, but also holding up Marchand's hand, which means "my successor", of course, attracting cheers from the audience, in fact, the two have another relationship.
Flying Fish personally presented the award to the junior brother
The flying fish's swimming career is nurtured by his mentor Bob Bowman, who is another of Bauman's top apprentices, and is his brother-in-law" Marchand joined Arizona State University in the United States for training after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, with Bowman as the head coach.
In a September 2022 interview, Phelps said, "I greedily hope that this record will last another year", because if it can be maintained until June 2023, it will be the longest Olympic individual swimming record since World War II, and Marchand only broke his record in July, which is exactly what he expected.
At the time, Phelps spoke highly of his classmate: "When he is in competition, he thinks of himself when he is competitive, and he rarely loses in competitions.
Marchand said, "It's so fulfilling, that's what I train every day. I was two seconds faster than my old record, breaking the world record, it was amazing... I don't know what to say, I'm so happy. ”
In Marchand 2021, Marchand first competed in the Olympics, the 400m medley was the closest to the podium, he swam 4 minutes 11.16 seconds to finish sixth, two years later he entered the record book with a time of more than 8 seconds faster, a year later in the Paris Olympics, he is no longer a potential star, but a goal chased by all athletes, a gold medal favorite, plus the advantage of having a home court, I believe it is expected to hit a new record again.