You can’t overlook Léon Marchand in Paris, where his image dominates the entire length of the city’s sole skyscraper, the Tour Montparnasse. At just 22, Marchand has yet to secure an Olympic medal, but he stands as one of the three prominent French faces of the Games, alongside Antoine Dupont and Victor Wembanyama. This marks a significant moment in Olympic history, as it’s the first time since Michael Phelps aimed for the daunting challenge of eight golds in Beijing 2008 that a swimmer has taken center stage at the Olympics. Last year, Marchand made headlines by surpassing the last existing individual world record set by Phelps, in the 400m individual medley.
Marchand is set to compete in four individual events over seven days: the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, with finals occurring just an hour and a half apart on Wednesday evening, followed by the 200m later that week and the 400m medley kicking things off on Sunday evening. That night, he will share the spotlight with Adam Peaty, who is aiming to become only the second man, after Phelps, to win the same event at three consecutive Olympics. Peaty was once seen as a near-certain winner in the sport, but the past three years since Tokyo have been challenging for him, and despite recording the fastest time in the world this year, he is still on a quest to rediscover his peak performance.
He will need to bring his A-game, as he faces off against China’s Qin Haiyang, the reigning world champion. Qin plays a pivotal role in another major narrative of these Games — he is among the 11 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug TMZ yet were cleared of any misconduct, citing that it resulted from cross-contamination in a team hotel kitchen. This controversy has polarized the sport, with one faction rallying around the US, whose national anti-doping body has been at the forefront demanding deeper investigations.
Several top American athletes have expressed doubts about competing in a clean environment. Both Caleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky, who each boast seven gold medals, have voiced their concerns. Dressel was particularly candid, responding “no” when asked if he felt confident in World Aquatics’ ability to uphold the sport’s integrity, an uncomfortable moment given that the organization’s president was present at the press conference. On the other hand, the Chinese contingent feels wronged, despite being exonerated by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Qin has even described the situation as an “American plot” aimed at destabilizing their team.
The administration of swimming has suffered from poor governance for many years, with both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics marred by mishandling of doping incidents. This has become somewhat of a tradition at the Olympics (as evidenced by Chad le Clos’ father, Bert, arriving in Paris on Friday to cheer on his son). While those currently in charge are attempting to reform the sport, their credibility is somewhat undermined by the fact that president Husain al-Musallam has previously been identified by the US Department of Justice as a co-conspirator in a FIFA corruption case and is under investigation by the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee’s ethics commission.
This year’s Olympics extend beyond the longstanding rivalry between the USA and Australia — which will peak in the women’s 400m freestyle on Saturday night as Ledecky takes on reigning Olympic champion Ariarne Titmuss and Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh — to an even more profound face-off between Chinese and Western teams. Both Marchand and Great Britain’s Duncan Scott will need to outperform another member of the Chinese squad, Wang Shun, in the men’s 200m medley, one of the week’s highlight races.
For the British team, the success will hinge on Peaty, Scott, and their teammates performing at their peak under extreme pressure. They accomplished this in Tokyo, marking their most triumphant Games ever. However, as the performance director Bill Furniss often notes, swimming is a “fingertip sport” and inherently unpredictable. Notably, Olympic champion Tom Dean in the men’s 200m freestyle didn’t qualify during the British trials. The swimmer who bested him, Matt Richards, is another contender for a medal if he can rise to the occasion.
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Great Britain will aim to secure medals in the relay events. They are favored in the men’s 4x200m freestyle and have a solid chance in the men’s 4x100m, men’s medley, and mixed medley as well, although matching the eight medals won in Tokyo will be a tough feat. Nonetheless, Furniss has a knack for bringing out the best in the team at these championships, and should Peaty and Scott rise to the occasion, they could very well motivate others, like Ben Proud in the 50m freestyle, Freya Colbert in the two medleys, and Laura Stephens in the 200m butterfly, to achieve similar success. Regardless of the outcomes, the events promise to be exciting to watch.
