NANTERRE – Bob Bowman teared up, just as he used to do watching Michael Phelps win Olympic gold medals.
This time it was Léon Marchand, Bowman's latest pupil to shine on the world stage, who pulled off a dominant victory in the 400-meter individual medley in front of a raucous French home crowd Sunday.
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The boisterous, flag-waving fans are counting on Marchand to be one of the premiere French athletes of the Paris Games, and the deafening cheers for their countryman have echoed off the walls of La Defense Arena every time he is in the pool.
“It was incredible. I’ve never really been at anything like that. So it was great, it was fantastic," Bowman said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday. “I actually did tear up a little bit right at the end, everyone was so happy.”
Marchand led from the moment he dove into the water and finished in an Olympic record of 4 minutes, 2.95 seconds, narrowly missing the world mark of 4:02.50 that he set last year, breaking Phelps' 15-year-old standard.
“It was pretty much exactly what I had hoped for, that he would be able to rise to the moment, because we knew what that was going to be like,” Bowman said. “And my question was: Could I have him prepared enough, mentally, physically, so that, No. 1, he could perform and, No. 2, just handle the expectations? And he did amazing.”
Beforehand, Bowman said he told Marchand to “have fun out there, that's it,” and offered one of their signature fist bumps. Afterward, Bowman shared with the 22-year-old former Arizona State star how proud he was of him for handling the pressure of the host nation on his shoulders.
“Very few people can go into that environment and perform at that level, I mean very few,” Bowman said. “I’ve been lucky to be around a couple of them. It takes something that you can’t coach. You can prepare ’em but they have to have something inside that gets them in the right mindset and be able to do that.”
Bowman and Marchand captured the Sun Devils’ first NCAA championship together earlier this year. Bowman then left Arizona State in April to take the Texas coaching job, and Marchand turned pro and relocated to keep training with him.
Marchand enjoyed his first Olympic title for one night, then immediately refocused and got back to work. He returned to the training pool Monday morning for a lighter day, swimming 2,500 meters ahead of his 200-meter butterfly preliminary heat Tuesday morning.
“He got a good sleep and we had a plan for what was going to happen today and he's going through that, and then we'll start with tomorrow and see how that goes,” a beaming Bowman said.
Marchand's poise and calm even blew away Bowman, someone who has seen just about everything in the sport. This is the longtime coach of Phelps who witnessed the decorated American star walk away with 23 Olympic golds and 28 total medals.
“It was actually far beyond my expectations of what he would do in that. He was just completely relaxed and normal all week before, the whole time,” Bowman said. “I think it says he kind of knows who he is and what he's about. He's very secure, and he's quite humble and down to earth, and I think you just see that coming through.”
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games