Former Arizona State University swimming coach Bob Bowman might have considered a random email that showed up in his inbox four years ago to be an act of espionage if the sender's name hadn't seemed familiar.
Marcian?
“I remember when I first got that email, my first thought was, 'Marchand? Xavier Marchand?'” Bowman said recently, referring to his treasured student, Leon Marchand, and his father, two-time Olympian French swimmer Xavier Marchand. “I thought about his dad. I wondered if they were related, and of course they were.”
Bowman, best known as the coach of the greatest swimmer of all time, Michael Phelps, did some quick research to find out who the young man who had sent the email was.
“So he basically said, 'Do you think you'd be interested in having me on your team?'” said Bowman, who led Arizona State to an NCAA swimming championship before taking over as head coach at Texas. “So I looked up his record and I was like, 'Yeah, sure, I'd be happy to have you on the team.'”
Bowman, who coached Marchand to 10 NCAA titles at Arizona State, will be poolside in Paris when the French swimmer competes for his country in home waters.
Last year, Marchand ran the fastest time ever in the 400m individual medley, breaking the record held by Phelps.
And in his three seasons under Coach Bowman at Arizona State, Marchand won numerous NCAA titles, including three in the 200 breaststroke, two in the 400 individual medley and 200 individual medley, and one each in the 500 freestyle, 400 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.
And now he may be about a month away from capturing the French public's hopes of Olympic glory.
While many Olympians are incredible prodigies from the moment they could walk, jump or swim, Marchand said he had no visions of glory in his early teens.
He famously refused to go in a swimming pool for two years as a child because he hated the water because it was too cold.
So when the International Olympic Committee chose Paris to host the 2024 Games seven years ago, Marchand reacted with little more than a shrug.
“I wasn't a very good swimmer at the time. I never even thought about competing in nationals,” he told NBC News recently. “So I don't think the thought[of competing in an Olympic swim in my home waters]ever crossed my mind. I just heard the news and thought, 'That would be amazing, but I'm still a long way from it.'”
But as the years went by and the NCAA and world titles piled up, Marchand gradually came to realize that French glory was within reach.
“I started out small and grew big, and every year, from 17 to 20, I got better and better. I started working more in the water,” said Marchand, whose mother, Celine Bonnet, swam for France in the 1992 Olympics. “Every year, the expectations were definitely higher.”
Bowman has openly said he believes Marchand has Phelps-like potential.
“I think Leon is capable of handling the pressure well and doing well (in Paris),” he said of Marchand, a three-time NCAA Collegiate Swimming and Diving Coaches Association male swimmer of the year.
NBC swimming commentator Rowdy Gaines, who won gold in the 100 freestyle in 1984, said he was amazed every time he heard Bowman mention Marchand's name alongside Phelps'.
“I can't believe Bob would put himself in the same position as Michael Phelps,” Gaines said, “but I think he's right about Leon's great potential.”
And, of course, Marchand has no real chance to beat the passage of time and match Phelps' Olympic record of 28 medals, including 23 golds.
That's because Phelps was just 19 when he won his first medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and his last was eight years later, when he was 27 and at a time when many elite swimmers are nearing the end of their careers.
Marchand is 22 years old and will be aiming to win his first medal this summer.
“He really didn't show his greatness until the last 18 months. If you asked me three years ago, I would never have believed he'd break the world record in the 400 individual medley. No way. Absolutely,” Gaines said. “So he's grown a lot in a short three-year period, and that can be a good thing. The positive side is he's still only scratching the surface of what he's capable of.”
Marchand may be France's best hope for a breakout star at the upcoming Olympics.
“There are a lot of good players in France but he's going to be the poster boy so there's a lot of pressure,” Gaines said.
Gaines vividly recalled the excitement of swimming to the chants of “USA, USA, USA!” in Los Angeles in the summer of 1984.
“I can only speak for myself, but for me, (swimming in U.S. waters in 1984) was definitely a motivator,” Gaines said. “It might sound corny, but when I started swimming, I felt this energy in my body. Of the people I swam with, there were only 20 of us at the Olympic Trials in Indy. But in Los Angeles, there were 15,000 to 20,000 people in the stands cheering for us, the Americans. I felt that energy. I'm sure he felt the same, and I used it in a positive way. I used it as motivation, not pressure.”
Marchand claims he has never closed his eyes and imagined what it would be like to stand on the top step of the podium, with the tricolor flag waving and “La Marseillaise” being performed in front of a roaring French crowd.
“I want to keep it a surprise. I want to take it one day at a time,” Marchand said. “Obviously, if we win we'll celebrate, but I'm not going to fantasize about it.”
Marchand wore France's swimming cap at the Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and finished sixth in the 400m individual medley.
Marchand claims his mental approach to the sport has improved dramatically and he is not the same swimmer he was three years ago.
Marchand said that if he had been able to reach the podium in Paris, his ability to manage stress and block out nerves would have been key to his success.
“When I get really nervous, I can't swim,” Marchand said.
“So I've been working on that, trying to be as relaxed as possible before and during the tournament and also working on how to manage my energy throughout the week,” he said.
And now that he's no longer afraid of the cold water, Marchand said he's looking forward to the biggest swim of his life at La Défense arena.
“Of course it would be great to win in front of my home French crowd. It would be the perfect time to win,” he said.
