“He is the best swimmer on the planet today, without any possible discussion (…) There is one like him per generation: there was Johnny Weissmuller, Mark Spitz, perhaps Ian Thorpe, then Michael Phelps, and so today, Léon Marchand.” It’s difficult to pay a finer tribute to the French swimmer than that of Rowdy Gaines at the end of the NCAA finals played in an exceptional atmosphere, symbolic of that of American university sport.
The Olympic champion in the 100m freestyle at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, and incidentally five-time world champion, expressed his admiration for Léon Marchand to our colleagues at France Info: “He received good genes, especially thanks to his father (Xavier, double Olympic finalist in 1996 and 2000) who was an incredible athlete. Then, from what I’ve seen of Léon so far, he’s a very humble swimmer. Sure he’s hungry but he’s not trying to impress anyone. He just does what he has to do. And I think that if he keeps this humility and this elegance, he will go far. I hope it doesn’t go to his head. At the moment, this is not the case. And even if he got a big head, I wouldn’t blame him, he almost deserves it. Beyond his work ethic, he is incredibly aquatic.”
Logical rave words for Rowdy Gaines in the front row, in his role as a commentator for ESPN, to witness the demonstration of force carried out by the French swimmer during the university finals which took place until Sunday in Indianapolis. With three individual titles, Léon Marchand played a major part in the final success of his university, Arizona State, which had never before had this honor. But beyond his successes, the 21-year-old Frenchman mainly impressed with his times. Particularly that of the 500 yards (around 460 meters) since during this competition, the distances are calculated like this and not in meters as in the Games for example. In 4’02″31, Léon Marchand quite simply shattered his previous record by almost four seconds which he himself had held since the beginning of March. Over a distance, it must be remembered, that he very little swam and he discovered.
“I had beaten this record two weeks ago when I was unshaven and less well prepared than today, and I wanted to beat this record again,” commented the main person concerned. “The time, 4’02” is still crazy. I knew I could do it of course. My time in the 200m is pretty crazy and in the second part, I just said to myself: hold on! It was a painful race but it was fun.” Note that he also won the 200 yards breaststroke, lowering his record to 1’46”35 (compared to 1’46”91 in 2023). Only his victory in the 400 yards medley in 3’32” 12 stayed away from her own university record (3’28”82) established last year. All while also showing herself brilliantly during the relays. Enough to draw up a necessarily positive assessment. “I think that I don’t I have never experienced something so intense. And, above all, sharing it with all my friends, it was huge (…) In terms of personal objectives, I am happy because I have improved a lot in crawl and breaststroke. I “I was surprised in a few races. I really didn’t think I would be able to do that.”
An opinion shared by his trainer Bob Bowman, who confided his feelings to the newspaper L’Equipe: “He knew how to raise his level. He has progressed in his crawl technique. It perhaps had a little too little support, we worked to make it more efficient in its propulsion, to take on more water. He has grown up, he is no longer the little boy I knew three years ago, he has become a young man. He has gained in maturity, at the same time as he has become stronger, more powerful. Enough to look forward to the future with appetite for those who will still have to seek their qualification for the Games during the French Long Course Championships in Chartres from June 11 to 16, after having passed their end of semester exams in Phoenix in May (studies of ‘computer science). Then, it will be time to see how far Léon Merchant can go during these 2024 Olympics during which, potentially, he could aim for the trifle of four individual Olympic titles (200 and 400 m medley, 200 m butterfly and 200 m breaststroke). And based on what he showed in Indianapolis, such a goal is no longer a pipe dream.