Paris Olympics: Leon Marchand, who sunk Phelps’ 15-year-old world record, hungry for more

Talk of the biggest discipline in the first week of Paris Olympics -- it’s swimming which has kicked off at the 30,000-seat temporary facility inside the La Defense Arena on Saturday.

Most of the big stars from Tokyo like Caeleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky or Ariarne Titmus are back – but the question playing on the minds of the man on the street is who could be the potential successor to the great Michael Phelps.

It’s a pipe dream to think of any swimmer finishing with 28 Olympic medals anymore, but France’s Leon Marchand is drawing some comparisons with the American legend – a link possibly strengthened by Phelps’ coach being in charge of his progress. Bob Bowman, a longtime coach of Phelps, is being credited with the giant strides taken by Leon in the Paris cycle.

At last summer’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Leon sunk Phelps’ 15-year-old world record in the 400-meter individual medley to go along with victories in the 200 Individual Medley and 200 butterfly — two more of Phelps’ signature events.

“Leon has several things that make him a great,” said Bowman, for whom the French had been swimming at Arizona State University. “He has speed and he has endurance. So he kind of has the whole package that you want and so far he’s done well under pressure, which is the other piece of that equation. He has it all really.”

It’s been a major shift in the career graph of Leon, who had a best showing of sixth in the 400m individual medley in the four events he took part in the Tokyo Games. The very next year, he emerged as one of the sport’s rising stars at the 2022 Worlds in Budapest and his haul in Fukuoka last year has only raised the stakes heading into his home Olympics.

“When I came back from Tokyo, I was like, Damn, this is like a gamechanger. Now I can actually beat those guys pretty soon,’” he said. ‘’I know I can train better. I know I can improve this.”

Born on May 17, 2002 in Toulouse, Leo comes from a family deeply rooted in swimming. His father Xavier is a former world silver medallist and Olympian and his mother Céline Bonnet, a French recordholder, naturally influenced his early passion for the sport.

A young Leo started training with the Dauphins de Toulouse Olympique Employes Club in his hometown and quickly became known for his exceptional talent. In 2019, he won the French 200m butterfly title as a 17-year-old and went on to secure bronze in the 400m medley at the Junior World Championships in Budapest.

In September 2020, Leon announced he would study at Arizona State University – a choice influenced by the fact he could train under the guidance of Bowman, former mentor to Phelps.

The move across the Atlantic paid dividends. After the early promise in Tokyo, Leo shone at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, claiming gold in the 400m individual medley and 200m butterfly. The breakaway moment, of course, came last year with three gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships where he was named the best male swimmer.

Leo shattered Phelps’ 400m individual medley world record by an impressive 1.34 seconds - becoming the first swimmer to dip under four minutes and three seconds. Phelps presented the gold medal to Leon during the ceremony, symbolically passing the torch to the new record holder.

‘’That was insane, one of the most painful things I’ve done. It was amazing to do it here, and the time is crazy,’’ Leo said after his victory at 4:02.50. Now in Paris, both his inspiration Phelps and mentor Bowman will be keeping an eye on how he lives up to the expectations!