At the end of June, in the Duna Arena in the Hungarian capital, Léon Marchand lived a dream week: a victory on the first day of competition in the 400m medley, a silver medal in the 200m butterfly three days later, then a new title in the 200m medley.

"Since Saturday, I wake up, I'm in heaven. I'm so happy to be here," he summed up after his third podium, punctuating his remarks as always with a jovial little laugh.

On this occasion, he became only the third French swimmer to win two individual world titles in the same year after Laure Manaudou in Melbourne (2007) and his brother Florent Manaudou (2015) in Kazan.

Phelps: "He reminds me of myself"

Marchand, whose father, mother and uncle all participated in the Olympics, revealed himself at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021 with his sixth place in the 400m medley final at just 19 years old.

He left Toulouse in stride to land in Phoenix in the United States, where he has been training since under the direction of Bob Bowman, the emblematic coach of Michael Phelps.

"Léon is to be watched," said the swimming legend with his 23 Olympic titles.

"He's a youngster who is really hungry, he wants to be the best, to break world records..."

"He's a very good swimmer. He reminds me a lot of myself, with his competitive spirit. It's all about the tempo, the stroke. He's with a great coach, Bob, who trained me all my career, so he's in good hands," he continued.

"I can't wait to see not only what he does at the World Championships next year, but also what he does in Paris (at the Olympics)."

Léon Marchand after his victory in the 200m medley final at the Budapest World Swimming Championships, June 22, 2022 © Ferenc ISZA / AFP

In 2024, he should be one of the stars of the La Défense Arena pool, alongside the other representatives of the new guard of world swimming, the Romanian prodigy David Popovici, 18 years old and new holder of the 100m world record. freestyle, or the Hungarian Kristof Milak, king of the butterfly at 22 years old.

"Be good in the present moment"

"We've put a lot of things in place for Paris because we know it's going to be the time when there will be the most expectations and pressure," Marchand explained.

"The most important thing is the Olympics. So we are putting things in place that allow me to be good at the present moment, that is to say in the final at the Games in Paris."

In its wake, it could take several podium contenders with it.

After several gloomy years, French swimming has indeed experienced a revival by fetching eight medals at the Budapest Worlds, while only Florent Manaudou had managed to climb to a podium at the Tokyo Olympics.

"I feel like there's something pretty special going on in this team," Marchand admitted.

His communicative smile and his performance make him a leader by example for the entire workforce.

"He inspires us enormously", greeted Marie Wattel, vice-world champion in the 100m butterfly.

"He inspires us to break down all barriers: mental barriers, records."

In addition to Wattel, the crawl specialist Maxime Grousset or the backstrokers Yohann Ndoye-Brouard and Analia Pigrée hope to gain momentum and take advantage of the Marchand wave.

© 2022 AFP