At this rate, we will have to think about renaming the Marine Messe, a vast aquatic complex in the middle of an industrial port site in Fukuoka, the “Marine Merchant”. As soon as Léon Marchand dives in the final in the Japanese basin which hosts the world swimming championships until Sunday, July 30, he almost instantly forgets the presence of the seven other competitors.
Three races in four days, three titles, with a world record as a bonus. After the 400m medley on Sunday, where he erased American legend Michael Phelps from the shelves, the 21-year-old swimmer flew over the 200m butterfly final on Wednesday and then retained the title on Thursday in the 200m medley, conquered in 2022 in Budapest.
The Frenchman completed the two round trips in 1 min 54 sec 82, thus setting a new European record and the third fastest time in history on this event. He beat two Britons: Duncan Scott (1 min 55 sec 95) and Tom Deant (1 min 56 sec 07). “I wanted to swim a little faster, Ryan Lochte’s record [the world record holder] is 1 minute 54 seconds 0, I would have done 1 minute 54 seconds 05, but in the front crawl I miss a little power to finish,” he reacted as he exited the pool, his cheeks still flushed from the exertion.
A serenity that also impresses his clan
His individual raid will stop there: the protege of Nicolas Castel and Bob Bowman gave up competing in the 200m breaststroke when he had signed the best world time of the season and, above all, the 4th in history. “I would have only had ten minutes between the two races [the 200m breaststroke semi-final and the 200m medley final], I think that’s not reasonable. Bob [Bowman] is very good advice. »
The leader of the Blues can sleep peacefully, he has already had a successful week, while waiting for the two relays in which he should take part (the 4 × 200 m freestyle, Friday, and the 4 × 100 m medley Sunday). Winning three individual world gold medals in three races, no French swimmer had accomplished it so far. “It’s nice, it’s not easy to recover after a big victory in the 400m medley, but I got back into it. I managed to enjoy all the fun times here, I’m happy to meet the expectations and the pressure, and above all to have fun, “he says with his characteristic placid tone.
It is precisely this serenity also outside the pools that most impresses his family, present in the stands since Sunday to encourage him. “We went for coffee and lunch with him this week. He is calm, calm. Despite everything he does, he manages to stay calm, “says Xavier Marchand, his father, himself a former high-level swimmer. “When we saw him on Saturday before his [Sunday] 400m medley final, he was laid back, no pressure, it looked like he was going to have a week’s vacation,” said younger brother Oscar, 16. years.
For a long time, his glorious elder preferred to be in the role of “hunter”, rather than “hunted”. He is now getting used to getting on the plot as a favorite: “It’s a status that I’m starting to appreciate, before it was difficult to get to line 4 [central, awarded to the fastest swimmer in the semi-finals ], to be expected. Now I don’t put any pressure on myself. »
“He manages to trivialize the exceptional”
Everything seems so simple with the Toulousain, “the new monster”, as the Japanese call him. “Being world champion is anything but trivial and you have to savor it at its fair value. But it’s terrible to say, he manages to trivialize the exceptional, comments Denis Auguin, the former coach of Alain Bernard (Olympic champion in the 100m freestyle at the Beijing Games in 2008), now head coach of the tricolor delegation. He does everything when necessary and when he wants with such serenity… He has a science of racing, he masters his paces perfectly, he never gets the tempo wrong. It’s a fuoriclasse [“ace”], as the Italians say. »
The Marchand family has its little expression to describe its performance. “It’s ‘Léonissime’, as they say,” smiles Xavier Marchand, as his son has not lost a race since the world championships in Budapest in 2022.
In the Hungarian capital last summer, his French record had allowed him to win his second title in the long-course world championships. Here he is now at five world gold medals. He overtakes the backrest Camille Lacourt, the only Frenchman before him to have won four individual world titles (in five participations, against two for Marchand). “I saw that, it’s awesome, and I think that’s just the beginning…” he promises.
