Like a lion roaring in his den, France’s newest phenom, Leon Marchand, has pulled off yet another spectacle on home soil! All eyes were on the center lanes in the men’s 200m butterfly finals at the Paris Olympics, where Kristoff Milak and Leon Marchand were battling it out for the gold spot. While it looked like a close contest in the beginning, the last stretch was when Marchand pushed through lane 5 to touch the wall first. And notably, he did that in record time, 1:51.21, trashing Milak’s existing Olympic record by a near 0.02 margin.

As he did that, Marchand’s coach, Bob Bowman, who once trained the all-time great Michael Phelps too, could not keep calm from the sidelines. He was cheering at the top of his voice, with his hands constantly going up and down in the air with excitement and anticipation. To which Michael Phelps stated in a post-match conversation, “I saw some of Bob’s reactions back in my day. I don’t know if he ever did this. I mean it was more of just an intense whistle. You know, I mean, he’s obviously super pumped up. And he knew that race was going to be a difficult race for Leon tonight.”

Shattering Olympic records has as through become second nature for Marchand at the La Defense Arena this summer. And so has praising him, for Bowman. “He’s the best in this event in history,” the coach hailed the prodigy, as he erased Phelps’ Olympic record off the board to chalk a new one, 4:02:95. He even added, “It was incredible. I’ve never really been at anything like that. So it was great, it was fantastic. I actually did tear up a little bit right at the end, everyone was so happy.” With just 2 of Marchand’s races at the Olympics down, Bowman’s emotions are coming out quite intensely for the debutant.

Michael Phelps happy to pass the baton?

Unlike Bowman, Phelps who witnessed Marchand’s 400IM action in the arena did not shower him with appreciation. But, gave him a genuine shoutout. “All records are meant to be broken,” he said. Also, when asked to comment on the new record holder, Phelps remarked on the Pat McAfee Show, “For me, nobody believed that I was able to do things I was trying to do. But I did deep down inside. Same thing for him, I love it.” Well, Marchand’s self-belief and his skills have been out there for the world to watch. Also, it is equally evident how Bowman has his faith vested in the swimmer’s potential.

First, Marchand’s heroics made Bowman teary-eyed with pride and emotion. And today, he carried a more fervent attitude. However, as per Phelps, Bowman’s reactions were quite muted down earlier in the days. Do you think Bowman has a new favorite? Let us know below.