Leon Marchand and Sun Devils Get Their Flowers From Fellow Bob Bowman Trainee Tokyo Olympian Regan Smith

In the recent victory of Arizona State’s Leon Marchand, the NCAA record holder made a historic meet, US Open, and pool record of 1:46:35  in the 200-yard breaststroke. Also claiming his national title in the 400-yard IM, he made his team and coach’s drudgery. While the Sun Devils hit the 523.5 mark, all his fellow mates, including the Tokyo Olympian, rejoiced to celebrate the team’s win.

Etching their flowers from the same head coach -Bob Bowman, both Leon Marchand and Sun Devils’ other triumphant swimmer, Regan Smith, are prepping themselves for the Paris Olympics this year. Though the current win of the 400m medley World Champion during the 2024 NCAA Championships has grabbed everyone’s attention, the league to clinch the Olympic gold remains overdue.

Cheers to Leon Marchand’s triumph in the NCAA Championships

The Instagram story of the Tokyo Olympian, Regan Smith exaggerated the historic win that Leon Marchand recently had during the 2024 NCAA Swimming Championships. The short clip with her teammates shouting with her, “Let’s go Devils!”, justified the excitement that ruled the NCAA triumph. While Regan Smith trains with the same coach as her co-trainee Leon Marchand trains from, her experience denies any challenges that came by during her amazing training sessions with Bob Bowman, the head coach.

Last year when she scored a 577 season-best during the NCAA Championship, she couldn’t refrain from admitting her great “learning experience” with the coach. She elaborated that Bob tries to teach her tactics beforehand, not waiting for the Summer Olympics season to begin. “I trust him completely“, is her clear take on Bob Bowman’s teaching approach that will get her to speed up for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games, she told Swim Swam.

Co-trainees prepping their game for the Paris Olympics

Now as the 2024 Paris Olympics are approaching, both trainees under Bob Bowman are focused on achieving their Olympic goal this summer. While Regan Smith has lately withdrawn from the Knoxville Pro Swim Series after testing positive for mono in December 2023, her pause won’t let her delay her target to etch her name in the Paris Olympics.

Leon Marchand, on the other hand, who is himself of French origin stated at a press conference organized by the Arizona State University Sun Devils, “I’m lucky to have this opportunity in France to swim in front of the French fans.” His present status accommodates him to set his eyes on the Olympic gold this season, for which he has been improving consistently, he claimed.

Read More: Is Leon Marchand the New Michael Phelps for the Paris Olympics 2024?