The United States sees elite swimmers from across the world drawn to the country due to world-class facilities, legendary coaches, and a competitive culture that hones champions. And no matter how popular they are in their home nation, if they want to be on par with the competition, these dedicated swimmers have to make such decisions in their lives. Well, there’s one such Olympic champion who recently opened up about his move.

Leon Marchand has over 1.5 million followers on his Instagram, where he is also quite active, posting pictures of himself attending an NBA game to his graduation. During an interview with Le Parisien, he talked about the difference in his life, which he observed while staying in the US away from France.

“A life as a professional athlete. Otherwise, I’m a nobody. Nobody recognizes me in Austin or anywhere in the United States,” he said, talking about living a different life in a foreign country away from his home. “The truth is, anywhere outside of France, I’m unknown, except when I’m near a swimming pool. There, I have a normal life.” But is it actually normal?

“Well, not normal in the sense that everything is meticulously planned, we don’t stray too far from the path, and everything is geared towards performance. It’s still quite something. But in terms of popularity, it’s the exact opposite of France,” he added. Marchand, who made his move to the US in 2021, had a single goal in mind. It was to train under the famed coach Bob Bowman.

The man who himself was the backbone of the legendary Michael Phelps’ success, dragged the young Frenchman with many ambitions, to Arizona State University and later to his professional training group in Austin, Texas. And Marchand? He went from leading his NCAA team, the Sun Devils, to the team title and turned professional.

At the Paris Olympics, Marchand became a national icon as he gained popularity. On home turf, he didn’t just secure a single medal, but won four gold and one bronze. Bowman’s coaching was on full display.

The Frenchman delivered astonishing times with an Olympic record in the 400m individual medley (4:02.95), an Olympic and European record in the 200m individual medley (1:54.06), an Olympic record and national record in the 200m butterfly (1:51.21), an Olympic record and national record in the 200m breaststroke (2:05.85), and finally another national record in the 100m medley relay (3:28.38). However, it all started when he was at Arizona State University.

Bob Bowman crafted this version of Leon Marchand

It was just another normal day for Bob Bowman in 2021, until he checked his email. A few moments later, he was all over Marchand’s resume and didn’t take much time to accept him.

Moving to the US gave Marchand a new life with “new language, new friends, new school and new training system.” However, it also gave him a new form of training.

“The quantity is less. I used to swim between two and two-and-a-half hours a day but here no session is longer than two hours. But it is more intense. Nothing is easy and there aren’t many breaks. For every two hours of training, we have one minute to recover. We do one thing after the other, which is tough but more fun,” Marchand explained how his training sessions were under Bowman. And these trainings did pay off.

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Not one, but he won ten NCAA championships and set multiple records throughout his three-year career with the Arizona State University. Following that, Marchand rose to global fame, winning three World Championships in 400m individual medley, 200m individual medley, and 200m butterfly, and the times he secured those wins with were world record, European record, and national record, respectively.

Eventually, the Frenchman made it to the Olympics, and the rest was history. Marchand also took part in the 2025 World Championships, where the results weren’t much different either. He dominated the pool with two golds and one silver in the 100m medley relay, swimming 3:27.96 and also setting the national record. His motivation comes directly from his coach.

“Sometimes Bob tells me that Michael would have achieved such and such a time. Obviously, I compare myself but it’s not the best thing to do. But it does motivate me. I’m curious to know things like that,” he said. So, as he trains for the next Olympic cycle, only time will tell if he can repeat what he did in Paris.