After his more than successful World Cup in Asia, Léon Marchand impressed swimming fans, but also his coach Nicolas Castel and Denis Auguin, director of the French teams. Limitless and never satisfied, even after his four Olympic titles at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
A shambles of records broken and finals won… Léon Marchand's return to the World Cup is a great success. After the last historic performance of the Toulousain, who exploded the world record in the 200m medley, in Singapore (third stage of the World Cup), his coach, who was not exceptionally at his side, returned to this competition which went more than well.
“I looked at the comparison with Lochte's record and it's really strong, really well managed. I'm missing a bit of qualifiers because I don't know if we can expect it… But Léon is full of resources I didn't necessarily think he would swim that fast today, but when he has a goal in mind, when he is determined, he is capable of doing extraordinary things. It's a great example today. “, says Marchand's co-trainer at the microphone of RMC Sport.
This first world record (1:48.88) broken in the short course for the four-time Olympic champion, comes the day after another enormous performance over the same distance (200m medley), where Léon Marchand had broken the European record at Shanghai. Since the start of the World Cup, the Frenchman had also broken four French records.
“It's a fairly common phenomenon to see swimmers break records at the start of the season. They have trained a lot for years and the physiological qualities do not disappear and the 25m pool is less demanding. They have not also had a big training load so no big fatigue For Léon, it's exceptional but not a surprise when we see what he did in the long course and in relation to the period. , notes Denis Auguin, director of the French teams.
2019, the last time Marchand swam in short course
This is what makes his performances even crazier. The last time Léon Marchand swam in short course was in 2019… five years ago. “It's hard because we have the impression of trivializing it, when it's not at all, a world record shouldn't be trivialized, but these are things that we could wait,” recalls Denis Auguin. And yet, Léon Marchand had set himself this goal of breaking world records. “That’s what challenges him, boosts him,” according to his trainer.
And again, the Frenchman withdrew from two races, too tired. “I imagine that with more training, he could do more races and he can still gain speed. I have the feeling that he can swim even faster,” explains Nicolas Castel, present at his side for the first two stages of the World Cup, in Shanghai and Incheon. Anyone who rubs shoulders with the Toulouse native at the TOEC Dauphins has absolutely no doubt that his student will continue to improve: “He has this ability to feel things well, to get real feedback on what he does. He is very objective about his race feedback, he is able to do a self-analysis. Often, it is very very objective and this is what allows him to self-correct and very quickly.
After this Asian tour (which ends Sunday November 3), Léon Marchand will return to France. “Depending on time difference and fatigue”, the swimmer will continue to train for the next short course world championships in Budapest, Hungary (December 10 to 15). “With the Interclubs (November 10 in Montauban), we will perhaps be able to further develop and optimize over two to three weeks to prepare for the world championships. It’s good timing to be able to regain peak performance” , explains his coach, before adding: “It's important that he finds these little challenges, these little challenges. Records from France, the World Cup, Europe, the world… That's plenty small steps on which he can rely to set himself challenges and challenges.”
