In many ways, Léon Marchand’s performance in the 400 IM last night was expected. The 22-year-old was already the world record holder, two-time world champion, and NCAA record holder in this event alone.
In no way did Marchand come out of nowhere, but his win last night in front of a home crowd on swimming’s biggest stage was a coronation of sorts. Marchand swam 4:02.95 to break Michael Phelps’ Olympic record set 16 years ago in Beijing.
Marchand is primarily coached by Bob Bowman, who helped guide Phelps to his legendary eight gold run in 2008.
But Marchand isn’t the first in his family to be a French Olympian. He’s not even the second. Both of his parents, Xavier Marchand and Céline Bonnet, have represented France across three Olympic games. And it doesn’t end there – his uncle, Christophe Marchand, competed in the distance events in 1988 and 1992.
According to Bowman, it was the name recognition that prompted him to take a chance on a young Léon.
Céline Bonnet, Marchand’s mother, made her Olympic debut at the 1992 Barcelona Games at just 16 years old. There, she competed in three individual events: the 100 backstroke, 200 IM, and 400 IM. Her highest finish came in the 200 IM, where she finished 14th overall.
Bonnet also competed in France’s 4×100 medley relay, which finished 14th.
Xavier Marchand made two Olympic appearances in 1996 and 2000. While he only entered in one event, the 200 IM, he made the final at both Games. He finished 8th in Atlanta and upgraded that position to 7th in Sydney.
The elder Marchand also earned a Worlds medal in the 200 IM, finishing 2nd in 1998 in a time of 2:01.66. At the conclusion of his career, he held a personal best of 2:01.08. Léon has far surpassed his father’s best time, as he swam 1:54.82 to win the 2023 world title.
While Léon will likely never race Phelps head-to-head, that is one achievement his father holds over him. At the Stockholm stop of the 2001 World Cup, he beat Phelps by nearly a full second in the short course meters 200 IM.
Neither Xavier Marchand nor Céline Bonnet ever competed in the NCAA, where Léon enjoyed three years of unprecedented success with Arizona State. However, Xavier did spend time training at Auburn late in his career as he chased a third Olympic berth.
Léon Marchand has three more individual events left at this meet: the 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and 200 IM. His road to gold is not as clear cut as it was in the 400 IM, as he will have to contend with the reigning world record holders in the breaststroke and butterfly, but based on the form he showed last night he seems primed to pick up more hardware.
Léon Marchand also has a younger brother, Oscar, who also competed for their local swim club in Toulouse.
Marchand and Bowman reading the email Leon sent to Bob when he was still in France asking about coming to ASU was adorable.
So is the younger brother headed to Austin in a couple years?