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Leon Marchand made bold claims about his goals ahead of his appearance at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, scheduled from July 27, 2025. The French swimmer will compete in the 200m and 400m individual medley events, and a few team relays.
He will stay absent from the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke events, in which he secured gold medals at the 2024 Paris Games. Training under Michael Phelps' former coach Bob Bowman, Marchand has enjoyed a successful career so far, drawing comparisons to the legendary swimmer. He holds the world records for 200m IM in short course and 400m IM in long course.
The 23-year-old swimmer clocked 1:48.88 in the 200m IM at the 2024 World Cup and 4:02.50 in the 400m IM at the 2023 World Championships. In the press conference ahead of the World Championships, Marchand expressed his excitement for his appearance while opening up on his goals of posting personal bests in all races and shattering more world records.
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“I would say it’s getting back into the game. I had a pretty good year of relaxing, getting back into it, but taking the time for it. I’m excited for Worlds, I want PBs in every single one of my races. Of course, I want to break world records in the next few years, I don’t know when that’s going to happen. But I still have a lot to do in the swimming world."
Leon Marchand started training under coach Bowman as the latter took a coaching job at Arizona State University four years ago. Notably, Coach Bowman shaped Phelps' illustrious career. Phelps is the most decorated Olympian with 28 Olympic gold medals. Training under his longtime coach, Phelps boasts an unparalleled career with 39 medals.
Leon Marchand opens up on how his life changed after a victorious run at the Paris Games
Leon Marchand secured four gold medals in individual events and one bronze medal in the team relay at the Paris Olympics. The feat earned him widespread recognition, which he feels has made his life complicated. He further added that although it was hard at first, he is now learning to handle it.
“I have to plan things. I can't just go on my own in the city and just go get some bread, I have to do different things before, after and during," Marchand said. "It was a lot to handle at first, but I got used to it because I stayed in France until December of last year."
“But I also enjoyed it, and I know how to handle it better now. I know how to say ‘no’ better. I'm also still learning a lot. I definitely get a lot more peace when I travel out of France." (olympics.com)
Leon Marchand recently signed with Nike alongside French footballer Kylian Mbappe and French basketballer Victor Wembanyama.
