Leon Marchand is driven by a quest for records and constant improvement as he returns to the city where he entered sporting immortality in search of his maiden European title.
The Frenchman owns four Olympic golds and a bronze on top of seven titles amid nine world medals as well as the 200/400IM world records in the long-course pool.
The 24-year-old clinched his Olympic titles in home waters two years ago at La Défense Arena, which could be the pinnacle for some.
But for Marchand, there’s the quest for perfection starting at the European Championships in Paris on Monday where he’ll make his continental debut at the Olympic Aquatic Centre.
Speaking at a press conference on the eve of the meet, Marchand said: “I think more records for me. Trying to do better and better. I know I can keep getting faster in the water. I know I can challenge myself with different events. I know I can do a lot of things still in the sport.
“I’m pretty young too, so I’m really excited for what’s next. And the Euros, it’s the first time I’m going to do it.”
Lessons Learned Through Injury & Looking Ahead
The spectre of injury had loomed large in recent weeks after Marchand withdrew from the French Championships with an adductor injury in late June.
He aggravated his injury a fortnight ago. A recent scan showed 70% recovery, but the breaststroke in the individual medley put too much strain on his groin, making the race too dangerous.
This led to him withdrawing from the individual medley events leaving him to focus on the 200 fly and 400 free plus relays.
His prognosis is good with a full recovery predicted in two to three weeks and it’s something that has provided a harsh but valuable lesson.
“It’s pretty bad timing, I would say,” continued Marchand. “But yeah, I’m going try to do better, and I would say outside of the pool, I need to prepare better, warm up better. There’s a lot of things I can do better to not get another injury in the future.”
Marchand elevated himself beyond his sport and into global consciousness with his exploits in the French capital two years ago.
Two years on, the pool programme runs from 10-16 August at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, which was built specifically for Paris 2024 where it hosted the artistic swimming, diving and water polo prelims.
The Texas-based swimmer looked ahead to the seven-day meet, saying “I don’t think I can really compare with the Olympics, but I’m really excited to see how this pool is going to fill up with like the French swimmers. I’m excited to see how the noise will be in this pool, like how we can use that energy to swim faster, at least for the French team. So yeah, I’m excited to see how it’s going to go.”
