Leon Marchand has broken onto the Olympic stage as one of the most dominant swimmers in recent decades, drawing comparisons to none other than the great Michael Phelps.
The two actually have quite a bit that connects them aside from great swimming times and record-breaking performances. Marchand will have a lot of work to do over the years to catch up to Phelps' medal count, but he has surprised many at this Olympic Games and seems like he will be a mainstay for years to come in the field.
Here's what Marchand and Phelps have in common that might not be so obvious to the average Olympic viewer.
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Leon Marchand's Michael Phelps connection, explained
Marchand's coach at the Olympics is Bob Bowman, Phelps' former mentor and coach from the 2004 to 2016 Games. After having coached Phelps at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Bowman was hired as an assistant for the 2004 Olympic swimming team, serving as the then-19-year-old's primary coach.
Since 2021, Bowman has coached Marchand, both in college in the U.S. and as a coach for the French national team. Marchand swam for Bowman at Arizona State for three years, following his medal-less appearance in the 2021 Tokyo Games. He then followed the coach to Texas.
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Who is Bob Bowman?
Bowman is an American swimming coach best known for coaching Phelps to his historic 28 Olympic medals. As of this year, he is the director of swimming and head men's coach of the Texas Longhorns swimming and diving teams.
Bowman has also worked at Florida State, Michigan and Arizona State during his collegiate coaching career. After serving as an assistant coach for both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic swimming teams, he was appointed head coach for the 2016 Games.
After taking a break from international coaching to return to mentoring in college, he returned to coach Marchand in 2021 after recruiting the swimmer to his ASU team. Bowman alternated between coaching for the French and Americans between then and now, where he currently is serving as Marchand's coach at the Paris Games.
Leon Marchand medal count
Marchand has three medals to his name at the moment — golds in the 200m fly, 200m breaststroke and 400m IM. He earned Olympic records in the 200m fly and breaststroke with one more race still to go, as he has the 200m IM final coming up on Friday.
When comparing him to Phelps at this point in both their careers, Marchand can add one more medal to his collection this Olympics, totaling four. Phelps did not medal in his first Games, predictably as a 15-year-old, but he earned eight in his second go-around.
The French phenom has a lot of ground to cover to get on to Phelps' level, but he's certainly the swimmer to watch at the moment.
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Michael Phelps medal count
Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 total medals to his name across five games — however, he only won medals at four.
Here is a look at his hardware totals from all of the Games he competed in:
| Games | Bronze | Silver | Gold | Total |
| 2000 Sydney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 Athens | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 |
| 2008 Beijing | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| 2012 London | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2016 Rio | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Total | 2 | 3 | 23 | 28 |
