Léon Marchand’s World Championships preparation
Returning to competition at the Florida event, two second and one third-place finish gave Team Marchand some valuable information to gauge his competitive form as training for the World Championships ratcheted up.
Having initially signed up to race in the four events in which he is Olympic champion, Marchand dropped the men’s 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke and will now just compete in the 200m and 400m individual medleys at the World Aquatics Championships Arena at the Singapore Sports Hub.
Win these two races, and he will become a three-time world champion in both, having won the world titles in the two disciplines in 2022 and 2023.
With more time on his hands, additional relays could factor, such as the 4x100m medley, the 4x100m mixed medley, and maybe even the 4x200m freestyle.
The freestyle event could be on the cards as Bowman is encouraging his pupil to experiment a little, as they eye LA28.
“The next goal is three years away, so there’s plenty of time to do things,” Bowman told reporters in Florida. “He needs the challenge of new events. He can’t just do the same events over and over.”
Coach also commented on a big difference in the schedule announced for LA28 in which, in a change from tradition, athletics will feature in the first weeks of the Olympic Games, with swimming in the latter stages.
“It’ll be very different for us to swim the second week,” said Bowman. “It’ll be fun.”
So, back to the Worlds, and with the factors of the past 12 months in mind, the parameters around the standards for the World Championships may have changed but a ‘perfect’ competition is still possible.
“As long as he puts in his full effort,” said Bowman, “I’m fine with that.”