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Leon Marchand is an exciting young swimmer who is a star for the future. We have seen swimmers like Michael Phelps, Ian Thorpe, and Ryan Lochte dominate the swimming arena for several years. With Phelps and Thorpe retired, Ryan is the only active swimmer from those three.
Leon has high potential even to surpass the aforementioned champion swimmers. Born in Toulouse, France, the young swimmer has recently grabbed the spotlight among the swimming community. So far in his career, he has won NCAA titles and medals at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships.
Arizona State Head Coach Bob Bowman, along with Leon Marchand, Grant House, and Jack Dolan, spoke about their first Pac-12 title in program history during a media session on Tuesday, according to Swimswam.
During the interaction, the French swimmer claimed he had received advice from GOAT Olympian Michael Phelps. Leon Marchand said:
"I've talked to him [Michael Phelps] a little bit, just giving me some advice on my stroke and on my turns and stuff. He’s just very excited for me because I have the chance to compete at home. I’m just very lucky."
Though Leon didn't reveal the specific advice given to him by Michael Phelps, we can say that the GOAT Olympian would have shared some great advice with the young swimmer. The French swimmer said he is trying to take one step at a time. Marchand said,
"I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to compete in Paris next year, I'm very excited and am training everyday to figure out how to win there. I still have a lot of steps before with the NCAAs and next year will help me evolve too. I'm trying to go one step at a time, very excited."
Leon Marchand's potential to go fast without tapering reminds famed coach Bob Bowman of the GOAT swimmer he used to coach, Michael Phelps. Bob Bowman said,
"They both swim very well all the time. Like Leon heavy training with 4:31 [400 Individual Medley] and once we taper, we will be faster. That was my goal, he just put up really good times in the regular training, so they [Michael Phelps and Leon] very similar in that way. They both have speed and endurance, the main difference was Michael was very good at backstroke and Leon's very good at breaststroke. Other than that, they're very comparable in many ways."
Apart from Bob Bowman, Leon's teammate Grant House believes the French swimmer is a fantastic athlete.
How well did Leon Marchand fare at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships?
The 2022 World Aquatics Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary. Leon won three medals at the World Aquatics Championships. His first gold medal came in the 400-meter individual medley. In the 400-meter individual medley finals, Marchand finished first with a time of 4:04.28.
His time of 4:04.28 set a new European and championship record. Leon Marchand claimed a silver medal in the 200-meter butterfly event by clocking a time of 1:53.37 in the finals. The French swimmer's final medal at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships was a gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley.
Marchand clocked a time of 1:55.22 in the finals, which helped him clinch the gold medal. He claimed three medals in total at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships.
