SWIMMING – Léon Marchand fans may be disappointed. To those who were hoping for a reunion with the quadruple Olympic champion after his coronation at the Olympic Games in Paris… the next French competition in which he will take part will be without an audience. The swimmer must participate this Sunday, November 10 in a regional competition in Montauban, the regional interclubs of Occitanie.
After breaking two French records and a world record in recent weeks, Léon Marchand returns to his club Dauphins du TOEC in Toulouse, for this tournament organized by MN 82, the Montauban club, specifies RMC. “He will meet his friends with whom he trains when he returns to Toulouse”says Michel Coloma, general director of the Dauphins du TOEC, speaking to BFMTV.
The 22-year-old French swimming prodigy has been training in the United States, at Arizona State University, for several years now. He is trained there by Bob Bowman, known to have also been the trainer of the legendary Michael Phelps. But Léon Marchand nevertheless remains fired from his Toulouse club.
A swimming pool with low reception capacity
Problem is, the swimming pool at the Ingreo aquatic complex in Montauban is far from having the same reception capacity as the Défense Arena during the Olympics. So no more crowd bathing (for the moment), Léon Marchand will have to swim without the support of his public.
The pool in which the famous competition will take place this Sunday can only accommodate 750 places. Except that the swimmers and staff already number more than 700, specifies Michel Coloma to the continuous news channel. It is then impossible to welcome spectators from outside the 48 clubs represented.
“People are going to be frustrated. We would have needed a pool of 3000 places to host a competition with Léon but that does not exist in the region. The organizers did their best,” explains the manager of the Toulouse club. For fans of the swimmer, it will still be possible to watch the competition on the club's social networks.
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