“More juice, more energy”: change of life for Léon Marchand, the champion leaves France

On Thursday, December 19, 2024, Léon Marchand announced on the sidelines of a competition that he needed a change of scenery. After having given up participate in the world championships in short course, the Olympic champion has planned to go live in Australia for a while.

© BestImage Léon Marchand caused a sensation at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

IN BRIEF

• Léon Marchand, 22, won four gold medals and a bronze this summer, holding several French records in swimming.
• On November 30, 2024, he announced his withdrawal from the World Championships in Budapest to rest and prepare for future challenges.
• In January, he plans to train in Australia to discover a new culture and training method before joining Bob Bowman in Austin.

An intense year… This summer, swimming fans were treated to the exploits of Leon Marchand. In the space of a few days, the 22-year-old won four gold medals and a bronze. While he has become a real phenomenon, he has already held the French records for the 200m individual medley, the 200m butterfly, the 200m breaststroke and, since 2019, the French record for the 400m individual medley.

Although everything seems to be going well for him, the 22-year-old swimmer needs to take some time for himself… Saturday, November 30, 2024, it was in a story on Instagram that he had thus announced : “I have decided to withdraw from the Budapest World Championships. 2024 has been very intense, I have done a lot of big competitions and I am exhausted. It is time for me to take a step back, work hard and start preparing for future challenges. I know you will understand and I am looking forward to what is to come”.

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Léon Marchand: “This is the right moment”

On Thursday, December 19, 2024, on the sidelines of a competition in Saint-Denis de La Réunion, Léon Marchand made a new announcement. “I plan to go to Australia in January for two or three months. I'm going to try to see another culture, train with a new coach, and then I'll join Bob Bowman in Austin later this year”, he said.

Indeed, the Olympic champion needs to “breathe and see something else”. “I saw Bob Bowman and he told me it was good to see another way of training. It's the right time, I have four years to prepare for Los Angeles so I have time. I'm going to be able to surfand enjoy Australia. Çit will change me a little”, he indicated.

Léon Marchand: “I was éexhaustedé”

While he did not participate in the short course world championships last week in Budapest, the swimmer justified himself again: “Since the Games çit has éwas&intense, media-wise, with all the requests and everything that happened around swimming. I decided not to do the world championships because I was exhausted. I came back from the world cup in Asia where I was with my little brother and it was great. But when I came back to Toulouse I had no more juice, no more energy. I decided to refocus on training and take my time. And above all to enjoy myself with this trip to Reunion”.

Finally, it was before participating in a long-course meeting that he specified: “A pretty nice competition where I will be able to do a bit of breaststroke in the long course (he is only entered in 50, 100 and 200m breaststroke). I am still very competitive so there will necessarily be a bit of competition but the goal is really to recharge my batteries and take time for myself and start again on a healthy basis for 2025″.