Léon Marchand: France's swimming nugget impresses the world

He was one of the most eagerly awaited French athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. And the 22-year-old swimmer has already done France proud. Léon Marchand dazzled the public by winning gold in the 400 metres medley, 200 metres butterfly and 200 metres breaststroke. A look back at the career of a swimming prodigy whose future looks more than promising.

His name is on everyone’s lips. As the Paris 2024 Olympic Games galvanise the whole world, Léon Marchand is already a leading figure in the swimming events. Acclaimed for his impressive performances, championship titles and records, the young swimmer from Toulouse born in 2002 seems to be at one with the water. And has been ever since he was a youngster.

A phenomenon that made him the first Olympic athlete to become an ambassador for the LVMH group at the end of July 2023.

A family of swimmers

Léon Marchand’s passion for swimming is no accident. His father Xavier Marchand won the silver and bronze medals in the 200 m medley at the European Championships in 1997 and 2000 respectively. At the 1998 World Championships, the athlete won the silver medal, again in the 200 m medley.

Her mother Céline Bonnet is also a great swimmer. A member of the French team at the 1992 Olympic Games, she was French swimming champion in the early 1990s in the 100 metres backstroke, 200 metres individual medley and 400 metres individual medley. She holds a French swimming record in the 100 metres individual medley and the 200 metres individual medley.

And let’s not forget her uncle, Christophe Marchand, a member of the French team at the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games. The sportsman was several times French champion and French record-holder in the 400, 800 and 1,500 metres freestyle from 1988 to 2000.

A family of professional swimmers naturally encouraged little Léon Marchand to take to the poolside from an early age.

From the Toulouse swimming club to the greatest champion titles

The athlete began training with the Dauphins club at TOEC (Toulouse Olympique Employés Club) and soon attracted attention for his exceptional performances. Not because of his precocious disposition, but because of his hard work. In 2019, at the age of 17, Léon Marchand won his first French championship title in the 200 metre butterfly.

A few months later, he impressed his peers at the World Junior Championships by taking third place in the 400m medley. In 2020, he won gold at the French Swimming Championships in the 200m butterfly and 200m medley.

It was during this period that the 1m87 tall athlete went to Arizona State University in the western United States (on a sports-study course with a computer science curriculum), to train alongside the elite of the pool and under the direction of Bob Bowman, a legendary coach who took the great swimmer Michael Phelps under his wing when he was 14. The renowned coach told L’Equipe newspaper: “In many ways, and in the times he achieved in certain heats during training, Léon reminds me of Michael at the same age”.

Phelps’ record smashed by Marchand

His decision to move to the United States and perfect his techniques under the tutelage of Bob Bowman paid off. At the 2022 World Championships, he climbed to the top of the podium in the 400m individual and 200m butterfly events. The following year, in July 2023, he won three gold medals at the World Aquatic Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. He was also named best male swimmer at the gala.

This competition marked one of the highlights of his career: his world record in the 400 metres individual medley. Léon Marchand became the first swimmer to break the four minutes and three seconds barrier. He beat the record set by American Michael Phelps by 1.34 seconds. Phelps presented him with the gold medal, symbolising the passing of the torch to a new generation of swimmers.

The crowning glory of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

All these stratospheric performances have prepared Léon Marchand for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. On Sunday 28 July, in front of a 17,000-strong crowd at the Paris La Défense Arena, the athlete dominated the 400 m medley competition in four minutes, two seconds and ninety-five hundredths, enabling him to win his first Olympic gold medal. He beat Japan’s Matsushita, who took silver, by just five seconds and sixty-seven hundredths. On Wednesday 31 July, he topped the podium in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke.The young man thus becomes the first swimmer in the history of the Olympic Games to win two medals on the same day, and within two hours of each other. Such a feat had already been achieved by French athletes in other disciplines in 1948 but never attempted by reigning world champion Michael Phelps.

These were feats that delighted not only sports fans, but also the brands that had placed their bets on the 22-year-old swimmer. The man who holds a total of five world records is also an ambassador for the LVMH group, Louis Vuitton and the Omega watch brand. There’s no doubt that with his successes, Frenchman Léon Marchand will continue to attract the biggest labels and shine at future swimming competitions.

The swimmer from Toulouse also has an outstanding mentor in football star Kylian Mbappé. Speaking to L’Équipe Mag, the champion explained the choice of this inspirational figure: “He has set up a system that is a bit like ours with his mum, who manages a lot of things. They’ve decided not to hire too many people to take care of everything on the side. He adds that he also likes “the way he manages his image and the outspokenness he allows himself”.