How the American university circuit helped Léon Marchand with his home Olympics challenge
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Léon Marchand will want to continue to write the history of French sport and world swimming.
The native of Toulouse has changed dimensions since he beat American legend Michael Phelps‘s world record in the 400 m individual medley at the 2023 World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Since then, he has been preparing as a swimming superstar on the American university circuit with Arizona State University (ASU).
“There’s like a lot of energy involved (in NCAA). You don’t swim just for yourself, you swim for the team. So the stress is different, I get pretty nervous about that because I don’t want, like, disqualify the team when I do something like that. When I go to Worlds, you know, it’s just me. So it’s, it’s very different.”
For the Frenchman, the choice to stay in the American West was motivated by his love of competition. The university calendar enabled him to increase his pace of competition and break the monotony of training.
“I took the decision not to turn professional this year to try and have more competitions. Having a rhythm of two weeks of training and one week of competition really allows me to get feedback from my coaches and improve. These are small goals that allow me to progress more quickly in the season. So I think it’s pretty good to prepare for a big competition like the Olympics.”
After a promising Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, where, at the age of 19, he took part in his first final in the 400 m medley, Léon Marchand decided to move to the United States to compete against the best university swimmers. In Arizona, Léon Marchand joined Bob Bowmana legendary coach who once coached a certain Michael Phelps…
“Bob Bowman is a unique coach because, I’ve never seen someone as involved as in, as a coach. He’s so involved, it’s really amazing to see. And he’s going to always push you to a little beyond. He also makes you feel confident about your work. I mean, swimming meets were pretty easy now, because all the hard work, during practice.”
Bob Bowman is confident in Léon Marchand’s chances of shining on home soil at the Paris 2024 Olympics: “I think Léon is quite capable of handling the pressure and performing well.”
But what is the famous Bowman method that Léon Marchand has sought out on the other side of the Atlantic?
For the American coach, the secret is “not to be too satisfied with anything”.
“The main thing that helps these guys that are already good swimmers when they get here, get better, is I raise the bar every day. I’m constantly raising the expectation level of what they can do and challenging them in the ways that they have ‘t been challenged!” he explained after his program’s victory in the Pac-12.
But now the question arises. How will Léon Marchand use his university experience for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?