Marchand goes fastest in return to pool after Olympic heroics

Leon Marchand qualified fastest for the final of the 100m individual medley at the short-course World Cup in Shanghai on Friday in his first swim since his Paris heroics.

The 22-year-old Frenchman, who won four gold medals and was the poster boy of the Olympics this summer, blitzed his heat in 51.65 seconds.

Switzerland's Noe Ponti qualified second-fastest (52 seconds) and China's Wang Shun third (52.15).

Marchand will also face off in the final later on Friday against home hero Pan Zhanle, who won two golds in Paris including the 100m freestyle in a world-record time.

Marchand was thrust into the global spotlight at the Paris Olympics when he won all four of his individual races – the 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke and 200m-400m medley double.

That put him in elite company alongside American legend Michael Phelps.