Mathieu Warnier, media365: published on Wednesday April 30, 2025 at 7:10 p.m.
Back in competition this week in Fort Lauderdale, Léon Marchand has chosen to focus his program on the practice of free swimming. A decision that the quadruple Olympic champion explains by the desire to challenge yourself.
The time of the recovery rang for Léon Marchand. After taking the time to digest his exploits from the last summer games in Paris, the Toulouse swimmer found the United States and his coach Bob Bowman. Weeks of preparation during which he was able to “train normally and find (his) comfort zone”, he recently told the daily The team. Now for the “Tire Pro Series”, a meeting organized from this Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A first step which, for the quadruple Olympic champion, will allow you to gauge. “I will try to be in good shape to be able to have good times and know where I am, because I have no idea where I am from”, he said in remarks collected by theAFP. Indeed, Léon Marchand admitted to having “had a little soft stroke at the energy and mental level” after having participated in the stages of the world Cup in small pool, organized in Asia.
Merchant: “I need to get out of my comfort zone”
“I didn’t really want to get up in the morning to go to training,” he said. I was a little more tired than normal. Hence a trip to Australia, during which he was able to train under the orders of Dean Boxall, who convinced the Toulousain to try free swimming. What he will extend this week in Florida, with the 200m and the 400m freestyle which are added to the 200m breaststroke as well as to the 200m and 400m four swimming initially planned. A widening of the horizon that Léon Marchand explains by the desire to break the routine. “Each year, I change lots, I have the impression that if I do the same thing, I’m going to get bored and I will not swim faster,” he said during this interview. I need that to progress, I need to get out of my comfort zone and do things that I have never done before. »»
Merchant does not know where he sets his feet
Essays on a discipline far from usual for him, including the quadruple Olympic champion hopes to learn lessons to progress. In any case, the tricolor does not hide his excitement in the face of this different challenge. “It will do it because Bob Bowman knows how to do it, but the first 400m freestyle will not be easy,” said Léon Marchand. But it will also be the most exciting because it is brand new. “As for his ability to get closer to the world record, established on April 12 by the German Lukas Märtens in 3’39”96, Léon Marchand admits to being in blur … and love this type of challenge. “In fact, it makes me vibrate because I do not know if this kind of time is possible for me,” concluded the one whose best brand remains a 4’04”65 established in January 2020, before it explodes at the highest level. A time that could already be deleted for a short time.
