By SwimSwam on SwimSwam
Courtesy of European Aquatics
Leon Marchand today spoke about the “hard decision” not to compete in breaststroke or individual medley events at his home European Aquatics Championships.
At a crowded press conference at the Olympic Aquatic Centre, where the seven-day swimming programme starts tomorrow, the 24-year-old four-times Paris 2024 champion explained how he had been dealing with the adductor muscle strain he incurred while competing in the 200m breaststroke at the French championships in late June.
“I injured myself at trials a month ago”, Marchand, who will now take part only in the 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle, told European Aquatics. “I tried to get better and better and just heal as fast as possible.
“I really wanted to do the breaststroke and the IM this week. But two, three weeks ago I re-injured myself in practice so it was really hard. And also I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do the IM.
“So I did an MRI three days ago, and it’s like 70 per cent healed. But it’s not enough, it’s still risky to do it and I didn’t want to ruin the whole week.
“It was a pretty hard decision, but I decided to do a reduced schedule and any do butterfly and freestyle.
“I think in two or three weeks it will be fine – so it’s pretty bad timing I would say!
“So I am going to try and do better outside the pool. I need to prepare better, warm up better. There are a lot of things I can do better to not get another injury in the future.”
Asked to reflect on how he felt coming to a first European Championships in the same city where he won his Olympic titles Marchand, who is based in Texas, responded:
“I don’t think I can really compare with the Olympics but I am really excited to see how this pool will fill up with French supporters, to see how the noise will be, how we can use that energy to swim faster for the French team.
“We had a meeting last night with the French team and we are just grateful for these Championships in Paris. I don’t think any French swimmers have had the chance to do Olympics and Europeans at home, so we feel very lucky to have that and we hope to do well.”
Reflecting upon how he continues to motivate himself and what his new goals are in his career, he added: “I think it’s about more records for me, trying to do better and better and to getting faster in the water. I can also challenge myself with different events. I know I can do a lot of things still in this sport.
“I’m pretty young too, so I’m really excited for what’s next.
“And as for the Euros, it’s the first time I’m going to do it and I’m really excited for it and curious to see what I can do this week.”
Double world women’s 100m freestyle champion Marrit Steenbergen of The Netherlands, who lowered the world record to 51.68 in Rome on June 27, commented:
“I’m feeling pretty good. My season has given me confidence. I am doing some different events here so I am just curious to see what shape I am in.
“My main goal is to enjoy what I am doing, because I know when I actually relax results will come. So I am mostly focused on being happy here.”
Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, who won 100m butterfly bronze at the Paris 2024 Games, said:
“It’s great to be back. I love Paris, it’s a great city. Two years ago was a bit disappointing for me so I hope to do better this time.
“These are the most important races of the season. The races will be packed so there will be no room for making any big mistakes.
“I want to see how fast I can swim. This year I tried some new training, did something different, so it’s going to be a good test.”Ponti added that he had been trying a different training routine this year, starting with a period of heavy work at high altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona.
“I felt very tired for a couple of months, but since May I have started swimming better and better.”
Asked about his French rival Maxime Grousset – who beat him to the world 50m and 100m butterfly titles in Singapore last summer but whose performance level here may be compromised by the fact that he is recovering from breaking a bone in his foot in June – Ponti replied:
“I feel sorry for Maxime about his injury, but it doesn’t matter to me if he is injured or not. I cannot afford to focus on it or it might affect my own concentration and performance.
“Of course Maxime and I have a personal history, but it is not just about us here. The fields in the butterfly are packed and there are lots of other talented swimmers coming up so we need to be on our best game here.”
Hubert Kos reflected on the peak experience he had in the French capital two years ago when he secured the Olympic men’s 200m backstroke title at the La Defense Arena.
“In Paris two years ago winning my gold medal was obviously my dream come true. It was the greatest moment of my entire life. And the funny thing is I have won a medal in every single competition except for the European Championships.
“So winning a medal, or a gold medal, would be amazing in the 200m back obviously, so I am looking forward to Tuesday when that starts.
“We’re trying out some new events here. We’re going to look at 200 butterfly and see how that goes. I haven’t done it in major competitions so far. It will be 50/50 – could be good, could be bad. So we’ll see how that goes.
“I’m scheduled for six events so I need to focus on my process. Obviously it’s going to be tough but I am excited. Can’t wait.
“For me Paris is always very special for me for the obvious reason. I went into the city yesterday just to look around a little bit, and it brought the memories back. Magical memories.”
“This is an amazing competition,” said European Aquatics President Antonio Silva. “We have 49 of our 52 member nations competing here, and more than 1100 athletes competing here.
“In terms of the legacy of this event, it’s not about the numbers, and it’s not only about sport.
“Of course we hope to see a lot of great competition, and records, but in the end it’s about our social responsibility as European Aquatics.
“It is very important for us that we can be in this venue that hosted the Olympic Games, and we sincerely thank the French authorities for making this come about.”
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