Leon Marchand To Miss French Championships In June & Seeks Singapore Qualification Elsewhere
Four-time Olympic champion Leon Marchand will not compete at the French Championships in Montpellier next month.
Marchand won four golds among five medals in front of a home crowd at La Defense Arena last year to command the spotlight in the sporting world and beyond. Life was a whirlwind for the Frenchman in the months following his historic exploits and after returning to the water at the World Cup in October, Marchand subsequently withdrew from the World Short-Course Championships with exhaustion.
The Pro Series meet last month in Fort Lauderdale was his first in long-course waters since the Olympics and now he won’t be following that up with an appearance at the national championships in Montpellier from 14-19 June, the French federation has said.
“This decision is however exceptional,” says the federation quoted in L’Equipe, “and specific to this post-Olympic year; It will not be repeated. To qualify for the World Championships (in Singapore from July 27 to August 3), Léon Marchand will have to achieve, during the 2024-2025 season, the times required by the selection criteria in the 50-metre pool.”
Marchand is racing this weekend at the Longhorn Elite Invite, which will feature many of the top professionals and collegiate stars who train at the University of Texas.