In an interview with France Info and AFP, Léon Marchand shares his training sessions that he hopes will help him accumulate titles this summer at the European Championships in France. The swimmer also talks about the highlights of his life in Austin.
From June 27 to July 2, during the French Championships in St-Etienne, Léon Marchand will be swimming in France for the first time since his achievements at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The swimmer was exceptionally exempt from the French Championships last year before the World Championships in Singapore. But this time, the French swimming star will have to go through it to qualify for the European Championships, which will take place in August at the Olympic Aquatic Center in St-Denis.
Nine training sessions per week
The Toulousain, who will celebrate his 24th birthday in May, is putting everything in place to win as many European titles this summer, as he has never taken part in the European Championships for seniors. And the training sessions in Austin, Texas, are tough, as he describes in an interview with France Info and AFP. “It’s the first time that the month of March has been so difficult in terms of volume, intensity, and the challenge of chaining together really tough sessions,” said the swimmer. “The schedule was the same, we had nine training sessions per week, three weight training sessions, which is what we’ve been doing for years, but I feel that he (his iconic coach Bob Bowman, editor’s note) has still increased the difficulty a bit, so it was still a big challenge, especially in the last three weeks.”
72 times 50 meters in one session!
Léon Marchand gives an example of a typical day: “We did a really solid set, a butterfly series, 72 times 50 meters in a long course pool, starting with one crawl, one butterfly, two crawls, two butterflies, three crawls, three butterflies, and it goes up to eight, with starts every 40-45 seconds, meaning that you touch the wall in about 30 seconds if you’ve swum well, and you have 10 seconds to start again, and that 72 times.” Obviously, when he returns home, the four-time world champion, who graduated a few months ago in computer engineering, does not make much physical effort. “I am more into my passions at the moment, so I play a lot of piano, watch series, movies… But I have a pretty boring life, I must say, because apart from training, unfortunately, we don’t have energy. So, in general, we’re not very productive. And then I manage my professional career, so that also takes time,” says the one we have seen in recent weeks with the French national football team in Boston or with his Texan neighbor Victor Wembanyama.
