2023-06-16 15:06:11
Friday is a break. Léon Marchand swam well in the Bréquigny training pool. But not in competition. After ten races and five French championship titles with as many qualifications for the Fukuoka Worlds, the 21-year-old from Toulouse preferred to give up the 100m butterfly initially included in his program.
At the end of the morning, the double world champion came in front of the press to share his impressions on his (re) discovery of a competition in France where he had not reappeared since he entered another dimension.
“I am satisfied with my week, especially in the 200m breaststroke (where he came close to the world record opening) and the 200m crawl, explains the most American of tricolor swimmers. In the 400m medley there is a bit of disappointment because I am far from my times. For the rest, it was not easy for a return to France since I changed my status a bit. »
Marchand had nevertheless been prepared for it. “But it’s still quite different,” he continues. There are a lot of people around me, a lot of eyes on me. It’s nice, people are happy to see me but at the same time it’s not easy to manage. It’s been five very intense days, I’m tired. »
Even if he tends to scatter the competition in the United States, the young Frenchy remains somewhat sheltered in the mass of students at the University of Arizona. In Rennes, it’s as if he was walking around with a huge sign “Future gold medalist at Paris 2024” stuck on the forehead.
“In fact, I’m never alone,” he explains. There is always someone watching me, taking my picture or filming me and I’m not really used to that. It’s the first time I’ve really seen it and I have to get used to it because in Paris it will be worse (smile). »
In any case, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen such dense groups of fans waiting in front of the entrance to a pool to offer themselves a precious souvenir with their idol…
“I will continue my mental preparation for the Games”
Coming to spend three days in Brittany, the entourage of the leader of the Blues was able to measure the extent of the requests and the number of times the three letters NO will have to be used during the pre-Olympic period. Raised at the Bob Bowman school, the swimmer follows a timed schedule to preserve himself and not deviate from his objectives.
“I try to share. When I arrive in the evening and there are people waiting for me when I’ve been in the pool for an hour and a half, it’s mostly fun, he continues. Afterwards, the days also depend on my mood, how I get up in the morning… I’m human, so it’s a bit like everyone else! »
Friday evening, Laure Manaudou will make an intervention in front of the France group. The blue-white-red queen of the 2000s knows all about stardom. Marchand has already taken advice from Florent, the captain of the Blues.
“I talked a lot with him on the subject, slips the licensee of the Dolphins of the TOEC. He experienced a bit the same thing and told me to stay open, to try to take advantage of the people around and above all not to worry about it. I will continue my mental preparation for the Paris Games because it is really part of my training now. Every day I train five hours in the water and I also have to train my head. »
The great French hope estimates to be in 80% of his physical form and 75/80% of his mental form at the end of his stay in Brittany. In the water, for a glaring lack of competition, he did “the union minimum” according to his coach Nicolas Castel, who will take over from Bowman until the Worlds.
“No, no, I wasn’t bored,” smiles Marchand. It was super cool. But I need challenges and here it was to do the qualifying time. And There you go. There wasn’t really the added challenge that made me want to push myself. I really need it to move forward. I really took up this challenge in the 200m breaststroke and that’s also why I swam very fast. »
Marchand will now immerse himself in preparing for the Japanese meeting, which he will begin with the 400m medley on Sunday July 23. “I love Japan, it’s cool,” he says. It’s a little free trip, plus with friends, people I like. I’ll enjoy. It’s just swimming…”
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