” Not bad is not it ? It’s French. We don’t really know why, but the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the name of Léon Marchand is this meme that pops up regularly. on Twitter to underline the best and the worst of the General’s France. A meme that would have been quite circumstantial last weekend, after the tricolor swimmer’s third record in as many races in the finals of the American university championships (NCAA). After the 400-yard medley and 200-yard medley earlier in the week, Marchand walked on water and his competitors in the 200-yard breaststroke, in the crazy atmosphere of the Jean K Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. A phenomenon is in the process of asserting itself, a year and a half before the Paris Olympic Games.
The Phelps parentage
The parallel with Michael Phelps, the man with 23 Olympic titles, is growing as the Frenchman improves his marks. We would like not to do too much and let the 20-year-old Toulousain grow up quietly in his corner, but it is true that many things about him bring us back to the icon of world swimming, the first man to have won eight medals. gold on the same edition of the Olympic Games, in 2008 in Beijing: his versatility, his taste for the medley and the butterfly, and the coach Bob Bowman, former mentor of the American whom he joined in September 2021.
The latter does not deny the filiation, moreover. “They both have qualities in training which mean that they can swim very quickly when they want to, and that they can train a lot, he said last year before the World Championships in Budapest. It’s a good combination of having talent, a very good technique and also having the will to take a high volume of training at a high intensity. That’s what helps them take it to the next level. On this point, they are very similar. »
Let’s be clear, no one is asking Léon Marchand to equal the extraordinary record of “Baltimore Bullet” (28 Olympic medals, 34 world), but for the first time in its history, French sport surely has a champion capable of making three, four, five podiums (not to mention titles) in one competition. The kind of perfs that count for a country aiming for the top 5 of the classification in Paris, as recalled by the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castera two weeks ago. That is a total of 60 to 70 medals, if we rely on the last Tokyo Games.
It is not yet possible to know Léon Marchand’s program in Paris, but he could potentially think of lining up at the start of five individual races (200m and 400m medley, 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, even the 200m freestyle), in addition to some more or less competitive relays at present. If it will surely be necessary to make choices, the breaststroke and the butterfly taking place for example on the same two days (July 30 and 31), there will be plenty to do. “I wouldn’t say it’s written in advance, but he has the potential to do great things,” says Nicolas Castel, Léon Marchand’s coach for 11 years at the Dauphins du TOEC in Toulouse.
Double world champion (already)
The latter, still in contact every week with his former foal, explains however the margin that exists between performance in the NCAA and in the long course: “The non-swum parts, start, turn, casting, are part of his strong points and he there are more in yard competitions. In a large pool there is less time spent underwater, he still needs to gain power in the swim to be even more efficient. You have to be enthusiastic but don’t get overwhelmed either, when you go from small to large pool, things can be rebalanced. You have to stay humble. »
Marchand’s first steps in the big world were nonetheless more than encouraging, with two titles (200 and 400m medley) and a silver medal (200m butterfly) at the World Championships in Budapest last year, in putting 3 seconds and 7 seconds off his Tokyo Olympics times over his two favorite distances. Everyone is eager to see the new chronometric references of the Toulousain during the Worlds of Fukuoka (Japan), next July. Phelps’ old world record in the 400m medley, touched in Hungary (within 44 hundredths), should not resist the tornado this time.
A significant part of Marchand’s success at the Olympics will be his ability to manage expectations, which are bound to be enormous. The Frenchman has already proven that he knows how to deal with it, but everything he has experienced so far in his young career is disproportionate to what awaits him for the home Games. Are we a little afraid of this pressure in his entourage? “I would be lying if I said that was not the case, admits Thomas Sammut, his mental trainer. In the United States, he is protected from the media, but the downside is that if you don’t prepare for it, it could fall on the corner of his face when he lands a month before the Games. Don’t panic, however, everything will be cleared in due time.
The specialist has not yet thought exactly how he was going to approach this with his swimmer. But not for lack of anticipation. “It’s in a year and a half, Léon will not be the same as today. It will still have matured,” he said. The general idea is however well established. “We are not going to be in denial. I don’t want it to be something we don’t look at, on the contrary. You have to be aware of it, play it, even take advantage of it, because it is in this difficulty that you discover yourself even more, ”said Thomas Sammut, who in the past took care of Florent Manaudou and Camille Lacourt.
“When he has fun, he performs”
In contact with the specialist, Léon Marchand has already learned a lot in recent years, in particular on the need to “put personal happiness at the heart of his success”, as summarized by Sammut. “He understood that the competition serves to meet who he is deep inside. The medal is not an end, it’s all he will learn about himself that boosts him and makes him have fun today. The key to his progress and future performance. “When he is having fun, he performs. He found this balance, ”supports Nicolas Castel.
We can only hope it continues like this. Because Michael Phelps, who had told at the end of his career to have gone through serious depressive states despite all his successes, is not an example to follow in all areas. “It’s not the French Phelps, it’s the French Merchant, quite simply, insists his mental trainer. He follows his own path, writes his story by going about it in the way that suits him best and which is not the same as the others. “For the moment, we will say that he is not doing too badly.