Marchand ‘stressed’ about racing Japanese rivals at LA Olympics

TOKYO – France’s Olympic hero Leon Marchand said on Sept 22 that Japanese swimmers will be his main rivals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, admitting he was “scared” and “stressed” about racing them.

Marchand ruled the pool with four individual golds at his home Paris Olympics in 2024 and he remains the man to beat heading towards the Games in two years’ time.

He is attending the Asian Games in Japan, where he has had a first-hand look at swimmers including Shin Ohashi and Tomoyuki Matsushita.

He is likely to lock horns with both in LA and the Frenchman said he was “really excited to race them”.

“I always look at what they do during the season because I need to keep informed of what’s happening in the swimming world,” he said.

“They’ve been doing so well the past couple of years. It’s scary, but also exciting for me.”

Matsushita won gold in the 200m individual medley at the Asian Games and is set to race in the 400m IM final.

Marchand won both events at the Paris Games and is world-record holder in both, having beaten Michael Phelps’ long-standing marks.

Ohashi, 17, won Asian Games gold in the 100m breaststroke in a dead heat with China’s Dong Zhihao and has been tipped to break the world record in the 200m breaststroke.

Marchand, who won the 200m breaststroke in Paris, said he was “very scared” of Ohashi.

“He’s still so young, his coach is really good, his entourage, the people around him are really good,” said Marchand.

“I hope he’s going to keep improving, I think his breaststroke is amazing. I’m very excited and also stressed about racing him.”

Marchand also had warm words for Matsushita, who is shaping up to be his nearest competitor in the individual medley.

“I feel like the whole country is behind him, so I think it’s really cool,” said Marchand.

“And I’m really excited to race him in the next month and a couple next year. I think he will be one of my main rivals, so I’m really excited for the future and I wish him the best.”

Marchand gave a swimming clinic to children in the Tokyo pool in the gap between the morning heats and the evening finals.

He said being in Tokyo “brings back a lot of memories and emotions” of his first Olympics in 2021.

“I had a lot of emotions in that pool, I made my first Olympic final,” he said.

“I was very stressed but also very happy to be here, to meet all those people, all those athletes that have different stories, different sports.” AFP