Léon Marchand will resume competition this Thursday in the United States where he is not yet planning to perform. The quadruple Olympic champion admitted to having had a particularly heavy training period.
Despite being in the United States, Léon Marchand remains the favorite athlete of the French. His magical Olympics in Paris in 2024, adorned with five medals including four gold, has definitely endeared him to his compatriots. Two years later, the Toulousain has maintained his thirst for titles. This is evident in his schedule for the coming months. “For the past four years, I often had the start of the university season which was quite intense in March. So we reduced the training to prepare for the conference competitions, especially the NCAA final which was at the end of March. It was really different because the professional swimmers in the group stayed together. We were in a separate group from the student swimmers. They reduced the training and we increased the volume, intensity, and difficulty in chaining the sessions as well,” revealed the Olympic champion to RMC Sports.
“With 72 kilometers per week with nine training sessions”
During his preparation for the Speedo Fort Lauderdale (Florida) which will take place from Thursday to Saturday, the Frenchman detailed his gargantuan training volume. “I have a fairly busy program…(.) Basically, we swam eight kilometers per session for two hours, with two training sessions per day on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We were doing about 72 kilometers per week with nine training sessions. In addition to that, three hours of weight training. So a constant state of fatigue.” A colossal workload whose fruits, however, will not be immediately harvested. “I don’t expect much because we won’t be at our peak form. I will still try to do some fun stuff and especially to race with my training colleagues who are also lining up for the same races as me,” informed the 23-year-old swimmer.
Quadruple Olympic champion, Léon Marchand will compete in the four specialties that brought him into the spotlight during Paris 2024. Namely, the 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 200m 4 medley, and 400m 4 medley. Subsequently, his coach Bob Bowman will take him to an altitude training camp in Colorado Springs before participating in a local competition in Austin (Texas) in June. Then, the Toulousain will cross the Atlantic to compete in the French Championships in Saint-Etienne from June 27 to July 2, where he will have to achieve the necessary times to qualify for the European Championships in Saint-Denis from August 10 to 18.
