The player-coach pair of Michael Phelps and Bob Bowman has done wonders in the history of swimming. They created a series of records and dominated the swimming world for more than a decade. After almost seven years of Phelps’ retirement, what if you come to know Bowman has found another Phelps-like prodigy? Yes, Bowman recently opened up in the SwimSwam podcast that he featured in and talked about the 20-year-old young talent from France.

Bob Bowman talked about the French swimmer, Leon Marchand, who has had an outstanding 2022.

Leon Marchand reminds Bob Bowman of Michael Phelps

Leon Marchand has shown some exceptional performances in the year 2022. He has been one of the best young swimmers to look at. As we discuss the role of genetics in several sports. In this case, Marchand has got some incredible genetics, as his father and mother both were swimmers. However, he improved amazingly after he got enrolled at Arizona State University to train under Bob Bowman after the Tokyo Olympics.

In the recent podcast with SwimSwam, Bob Bowman said, “Well, he has, you know, I spoke with Eddie Reese. We texted yesterday and I was like you know Leon right now is reminding me of Michael in like 2003. He has, his fitness level is so high that he can produce really fast times with high volume of training. I mean, he is just kind of functioning all sort firing on all cylinders.” 

Read More | 16-Years-Old Swimming Prodigy Shattered Michael Phelps’ Two-Decade-Long Standing Record With Staggering Time

What lies ahead for the young swimmer is unknown, but let us have a look at his journey up till now.

The journey of Leon Marchand

The son of two extremely talented swimmers began his journey of swimming long back. However, his best year in results has been 2022. He also competed in the Tokyo Olympics at just the age of 19 and managed to qualify for the finals. However, he had to satisfy with the sixth position in the 400 IM final. Whereas he also qualified for the semifinals in the 200m butterfly. 

But the trajectory changed in 2022. Marchand won two gold medals and a silver at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest in 2022. Whereas he also created multiple records at NCAA, by finishing 400m IM in 4:10.38, and the French record folder in 200m IM by finishing in 1:56.95.  

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What do you think about this French swimming prodigy? Will he be able to challenge Michael Phelps’ records in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.