LEON Marchand is seen by many as the natural successor to GOAT Michael Phelps after obliterating his world record in 2023.
Here’s everything you need to know about the hottest swimmer on the planet right now, who’s competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Leon Marchand, born on May 17, 2002, in Toulouse, France, comes from a family deeply rooted in swimming.
His father Xavier Marchand is a former world silver medallist and Olympian, and his mother is Céline Bonnet, who competed at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics.
Leon started training with the Dauphins de Toulouse Olympique Employes Club in his hometown, quickly establishing himself as an exceptional talent.
In 2019, aged just 17, he won the French 200m butterfly title, before securing bronze in the 400m medley at the Junior World Championships in Budapest just a few months later.
He won gold medals in the 200m butterfly and the 200m medley at the French Swimming Championships In December 2020.
After a promising Tokyo 2020 Olympics where, at the age of 19, he reached his first final in the 400m medley, Leon decided to move to the US to compete against the best university swimmers.
In September 2020, Leon announced he would study at Arizona State University and train under the guidance of Bob Bowman, former mentor to the most decorated swimmer in the history of the sport, US swimming legend Michael Phelps.
Leon told Olympics.com: “Bob Bowman is a unique coach because, I’ve never seen someone as involved…
“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 are pretty easy now, because all the hard work happens during practice.”
Bowman is also confident Leon can shine on home soil at the Paris 2024 Olympics: “I think Leon is quite capable of handling the pressure and performing well.
“The main thing that helps these guys that are already good swimmers when they get here, they get better. I raise the bar every day.
“I’m constantly raising the expectation level of what they could do and challenging them in ways that they haven’t been challenged.”
That was insane, one of the most painful things I’ve done. It was amazing to do it here, and the time is crazy
Marchand on breaking Phelps' record
The move paid off and he excelled at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, claiming gold in the 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly.
In 2023, he continued his stellar run of form, winning three gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, where he was named the best male swimmer of the gala.
He also made headlines when he smashed Phelps’ 400m individual medley world record at the event.
Since beating the world record, Leon has been preparing to become a swimming superstar on the American university circuit with Arizona State University.
He said: “There’s like a lot of energy involved [in NCAA]. You don’t swim only for yourself, you swim for the team.
“So the stress is different, I get pretty nervous about that because I don’t wanna, like, disqualify the team when I do something like that.
“When I go to Worlds, you know, it’s just me. So it’s very different.”
For the Frenchman, the choice to stay in the American West was motivated by his love of competition.
He said: “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.”
Leon will be representing France in his home Olympics.
The opening ceremony for the event starts at 6.30pm on July 26, 2024.
After two and a half weeks of action, the festival of sport finishes with the closing ceremony, which kicks off at 8pm on Sunday August 11.
Leon shattered Phelps‘ 400m individual medley world record by an incredible 1.34 seconds at the World Championships on July 23, 2023.
He became the first swimmer to finish under four minutes and three seconds, with Phelps presenting him with the gold medal during the ceremony.
After his victory in 4:02.50, Leon said: “That was insane, one of the most painful things I’ve done.
“It was amazing to do it here, and the time is crazy.”
