'Not seen since Phelps': New swim 'monster' emerges to become ...

As “Le Roi Leon” Marchand surged into the history books at Paris La Defense Arena on Wednesday, a legion of French fans were on their feet hailing the arrival of a new king after he became the first Olympian to complete the 200m butterfly and breaststroke double.

For every bob of Marchand’s head in the historic double, a feat incredibly achieved within a couple of hours, he was greeted with a rousing roar of “allez” from the 15,000 fans celebrating one of swimming’s greatest feats.

France was beset by discord in the months prior to the Games but Marchand’s magnificence has been unifying, with reports of deafening ovations delaying other events at Olympics venues amid celebrations across the nation as he rode a wave of support from his homeland.

The 22-year-old from Toulouse, who quit the sport as a kid for a couple of years because the water was too cold, is now the first French swimmer to win three Olympic gold medals. And he has done it in four days after his triumph in the 400m individual medley on Sunday.

Adding lustre to the extraordinary double on Wednesday in which he set two Olympics records is the exceptional calibre of the silver medallists, for it was not just the clock he beat but two decorated swimmers with their own claims to greatness.

Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook, who bobbed at the shoulder of the Frenchman when beaten by .94 seconds in 2:06.74, was the reigning Olympic gold medallist and Games record holder in the 200m breaststroke but proved unable to surge past his rival in the last lap.

That Marchand was able to produce a performance of such magnitude is astonishing given he had just stood atop the podium, and let another rousing rendition of La Marseillaise with gusto, for his record-breaking deed in the 200m butterfly earlier in the night.

Marchand was the pursuer in his initial outing in the butterfly final when, incredibly, he managed to reel in Hungary’s defending Olympic champion and world record holder Kristof Milak in the last lap.

After clinching the 400m individual medley to start the meet, Marchand said the French fans in support helped him float above the water.

“I was trying to take that energy from the crowd and use it. The breaststroke was insane because I could hear the whole stadium,” he said.

Those who witnessed his deeds on Wednesday will have left La Defense Arena convinced Marchand could walk on water as well.

Gold medallist France's Leon Marchand after winning the 200m breaststrokeSource: AFP

‘PHELPS-LIKE’ — MARCHAND LIKENED TO A LEGEND AFTER AUDACIOUS DEEDS

Australian broadcaster Matt Thompson could not quite believe the swim he had just called.

“Dare I say it (but) this is Phelps-like,” he declared, his breath clearly taken by Marchand.

Dual-world champion James Magnussen was similarly taken with his assessment and described him as “essentially the French Michael Phelps right now” when praising Marchand for the manner with which he handled an extraordinary night in the pool.

“It was an amazing performance. We haven’t seen anything like this since Phelps,” he said on the Matty and the Missile in Paris podcast.

“There a couple of things I noticed after that 200m butterfly ... firstly, he didn’t overly celebrate after the race and secondly, as soon as he had sung the national anthem, he got off the podium and walked straight off the pool deck.

“He didn’t do the photos. He didn’t walk around to take the crowd’s admiration and celebrate the win. He brought that energy straight back down and was calm and relaxed, even though the crowd was at fever pitch. He blocked that out and went straight back into game mode and that showed experience beyond his years. He is huge over here. We heard the crowd tonight. It was a special event.”

Magnussen said to produce two world class swims in disciplines which require an exceptional amount of energy was astounding.

“I would say he was straight into the ice bath to get that body temperature down as soon as possible,” he said.

“He would then jump on the message bed and have four masseusues on him, one for each arm and leg, to flush out the lactic acid in him. He would then jump into the pool to swim down to get rid of the rest of that lactic acid and then just be as still as possible in mind and body. It is incredible for a swimmer of his age to show that composure in front of a home crowd.”

Marchand, clearly, has a significant challenge ahead of him to match the deeds of the extraordinary Phelps, who won 23 Olympic golds and 28 medals overall over five Olympics between Sydney 2000 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

But “the Baltimore Bullet” never managed the double. Nor did Mark Spitz and the other American icons who mastered two of the toughest legs of the individual medley, nor the great Australian swimmers who have shaped the sport Down Under.

It is unprecedented and it has been reported organisers were forced to tinker with the program slightly to accommodate the French favourite’s desire to swim in both races, for initially the two finals were to be scheduled back-to-back. After all, who would swim both?

Prior to the Olympics, even Marchand was aware of how unlikely his bid to cause a double-sensation was.

“There are not many people who try this double. It’s a bit weird. But I like everything weird,” he said.

France's Leon Marchand competes in the final of the men's 200m breaststroke.Source: AFP

THE ‘NEW MONSTER’ OF THE SHALLOWS

The French call Marchand “Le Roi Leon”. In English this translates to “The King Leon”.

He is the poster boy of the Paris Olympics and entered the Games with the burden of significant hype given his brilliance in recent years.

As an example, an image of the new legend of the pool stretching almost 200m - fitting given his double over the distance on Wednesday - adorns the only skyscraper within the city limits of the capital.

The excitement truly began to build after his deeds in the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka last year when he won the 200m and 400m individual medley gold medals.

Phelps, who was poolside on Wednesday to witness the coronation of “the King”, was broadcasting in Japan last year when he realised his longstanding 400m IM world record was about to go.

The Washington Post reported the legend as saying “Uh oh” as Marchand turned for a final lap bid for glory before proclaiming a few moments later as the Frenchman continued to surge; “It’s gone.”

At the peak of Phelps’ fame, the Japanese media nicknamed the American “Kaibutsu”, which translates to “The Monster”. And Phelps monstered rivals and world records alike during an unprecedented career in the pool.

When Marchand completed the double in Fukuoka, he was branded “Shin-Kaibutsu”, the “new monster”.

After those triumphs, the Toulouse-raised swimmer said he understood immediately it would result in heightened pressure atop his shoulders in the lead-in to his home Olympics in 2024.

“I realised when I broke Michael’s record: ‘Well, the Paris Games are going to be different from what I imagined. I’m preparing myself mentally and physically for this,” he said before the Games.

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 31: A photograph of Gold medalist Leon Marchand of Team France is projected as part of Parisienne Projection on July 31, 2024. Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

THE PHELPS CONNECTION FOR A SWIMMER BUILT LIKE A ‘TORPEDO’

Just as white water rapids run through the blood of Australia’s legend Jess Fox, whose parents Richard Fox and Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi were both Olympians, it can be said that Marchand was born to master the individual medley.

His mother Celine Bonnet competed in the event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics while his dad Xavier Marchand swam in Atlanta and also in Sydney in 2000.

The Washington Post revealed that Xavier Marchand actually competed against Phelps in a 200m individual medley race in Auburn, Alabama, in 2004, when beaten by nine seconds as part of an unsuccessful bid to qualify for the French team for the Athens Games.

It was another undistinguishable rampage from Phelps amid more than a decade of dominance, but his coach Bob Bowman remembered Marchand’s sideburns and elegant stroke.

When Bowman received an email from Leon Marchand seeking scholarship assistance while he was coaching at Arizona State University almost four years ago, his interest was immediately piqued and he had no hesitation in saying yes, having noted his junior times.

Marchand competes in the final of the men's 200m breaststroke swimming event.Source: AFP

The Washington Post reported that Bowman used WhatsApp to pass on some of Phelps’s training programs in the lead-in to the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games, where Marchand qualified for the final and finished sixth while still a teenager.

There is a similarity to Phelps as well, for the American also missed a medal in his initial Olympics in Sydney in 2000 when finishing sixth and a 15-year-old in the 200m butterfly final.

Under Bowman’s tutelage at Arizona State, Marchand became a dominant swimmer in the NCAA college system, breaking records set by swimmers the calibre of powerhouse American sprinter Caeleb Dressel.

He was unassailable in the medley double in the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, though he settled for silver in the 200m butterfly, and is getting better and better.

Marchand does not boast the freakish physiological traits of Phelps - the “Kaibutsu” stood 1.93m and had a phenomenal wing span and is considered a superior freestyler - but the Frenchman glides or floats on the water rather than having to fight through it.

Australia had the “Thorpedo” in Ian Thorpe and France as a weapon in the water, for in the feature profile leading into the Olympics, Bowman said Marchand was “built like a torpedo” because his “hips and shoulders are the same width”, causing little drag.

MARCHAND THE MAGNIFICENT

Despite becoming the first swimmer to win two gold medals in a night since the 1976 Olympics, Marchand is not finished yet and will seek a golden quadrella in the 200m individual medley.

Such is his command of the pool, the Frenchman insisted before the Olympics that performing at home would elevate him further towards the pantheon of the greats.

“The event doesn’t overwhelm me. It will help me transcend. For me, it is a driving force,” he said.

While France’s inferiority in relays means that Marchand has no prospects of matching the eight gold medals Phelps won in an Olympics in 2008, Magnussen said Marchand was still in for “one hell of a week” given his composure ahead of the medley event to come.

“The reason it took Phelps a couple of events to win those eight gold medals (in Beijing) was when he knew how to ride the rollercoaster which is a week of Olympic swimming,” he said.

The French honour legendary figures with statues. During the opening ceremony, for example, ten golden statues emerged from the Seine River celebrating historic French females.

At Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal has competed with a larger-than-life tribute to himself on the grounds, while the “Four Musketeers” of French tennis in the 1920s are also honoured with sculptures.

Back in 2012, a French artist even had the audacity to sculpt Zinedine Zidane’s headbutt of an Italian rival in the failed 2006 World Cup final into a statue outside the Pompidou.

“Le Roi Leon” has transcended the French expectations to confirm himself a legend and, given his historic deeds, expect Marchand to be commemorated forever outside Paris La Defense Arena once his career is complete.