Seven Days into Paris, Bob Bowman’s Foreign Swimmers Have Won More Olympic Golds Than Team USA

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Through the first seven days of swimming at the Paris Olympics, coach Bob Bowman‘s international swimmers have combined for more gold medals (five) than all of Team USA (four).

French star Leon Marchand won his fourth Olympic title of the meet on Friday, breaking his fourth Olympic record in the men’s 200 IM at 1:54.06 — just a blink off Ryan Lochte‘s world record (1:54.00). The 22-year-old Marchand had already picked up wins in the 400 IM (4:02.95), 200 butterfly (1:51.21), and 200 breast (2:05.85).

• Related: Marchand Becomes 4th Swimmer Ever to Win Four Individual Golds at Single Games

Marchand’s former Arizona State teammate, Hubert Kos, also captured an individual Olympic crown in the men’s 200 backstroke with a winning time of 1:54.26. The 21-year-old Hungarian transferred to Texas along with Marchand, following Bowman to Austin after they won the Sun Devils’ first-ever NCAA swim title in late March.

Meanwhile, the Americans have won just four gold medals so far courtesy of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay (Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Caeleb Dressel), Torri Huske in the women’s 100 butterfly (55.59), Katie Ledecky in the women’s 1500 free (15:30.02), and Kate Douglass in the women’s 200 breaststroke (2:19.24).

The 59-year-old Bowman is coaching with the French this summer in part because they don’t care if he also coaches swimmers from other countries — unlike Team USA.

“It just makes it so much better for everyone for me to coach with the French, because the French have no stipulations about me coaching other nationalities and it’s a little different with the USA team, which I certainly respect,” Bowman said at last weekend’s Pro Swim Series stop in San Antonio. “So it just makes sense for everybody because then I can coach everybody I’m coaching now.”

There are only seven gold medal opportunities remaining in the pool. Saturday could be a big day for the Americans: Ledecky is expected to bring home her fourth consecutive Olympic title in the 800 free, the U.S. mixed 4×100 medley relay are probably the favorites, and Douglass has a shot in the 200 IM against Canadian star Summer McIntosh.

The last time the U.S. finished with a gold medal count in the single digits was back at the Seoul 1988 Olympics, when it won eight. If the Americans can’t hit that mark this year, it would represent their lowest gold medal total since the Melbourne 1956 Olympics (two).

The U.S. won 11 golds at Tokyo 2021, 16 at Rio 2016, 16 at London 2012, 12 at Beijing 2008, 12 at Athens 2004, 14 at Sydney 2000, 13 at Atlanta 1996, 11 at Barcelona 1992, eight at Seoul 1988, 21 at Los Angeles 1984, 13 at Montreal 1976, 17 at Munich 1972, 21 at 1968 Mexico City, 13 at Tokyo 1964, and nine at Rome 1960. The Moscow 1980 edition of the Olympics was famously boycotted by the Americans.