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BUDAPEST, Hungary — Léon Marchand was watching at home when Budapest last hosted the swimming worlds in 2017. On Saturday, the 20-year-old French swimmer thrilled spectators in the Hungarian capital with a European record as he almost took Michael Phelps' world record in the men's 400 medley. Marchand's time of 4:04.28 was the second fastest ever swum after Phelps' 4:03.84 at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. It also meant he became the second French swimmer to win a medal in an individual medley at a worlds after his father Xavier, who won silver in the men's 200 medley in Perth in 1998.
