"Caeleb Dressel was the first guy to say, 'Let's take a break'" - Leon Marchand opens up on why he considers American swimmer his role model

Leon Marchand has picked nine-time Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel as his role model. The French prodigy hailed the American swimmer for prioritizing his mental health and showing the world that taking a break from the sport wasn't a bad thing.

Marchand was speaking in an interview with World Aquatics and when asked about his role model in the swimming world, he picked Dressel.

"I would say Caeleb Dressel for me. He was kind of the first guy to show us underwater (speed) after Michael Phelps for sure but Caeleb Dressel was like the guy who was the fastest in the water. That's a big inspiration for me but the main thing was the way he talked about his mental health, his depression," he said. [9:10 onwards]

Dressel was backed to be the next Phelps following the 23-time Olympic champion's retirement at the 2016 Olympics, and while he did more or less rise to the expectations with five gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the pressure eventually got the better of him.

His watershed moment came at the 2022 World Championships when he surprisingly withdrew mid-competition, citing health reasons which he later clarified was depression. Hailing the American's decision to take a break, Marchand added:

"I mean this guy won like I think three (five golds) in Tokyo and he said he wasn't happy. That to me was like maybe if I win I won't be happy you know like I want to maybe lose but I want to be happy whatever it takes."

"He really talked about it and he was like the first guy to really open this in media. He talked to like swimmers about it and he really helped me, I think he helped a lot of people including me. He was the first guy to say let's take a break even if you don't want to, let's take some time off swimming and then go back because it's such a hard sport," he added.

Dressel returned to competition in late 2023 and although he was relatively slower in the pool, the 28-year-old eventually qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He won two golds and one silver medal at the Games while Marchand was the star of the show in Paris, winning four golds and one bronze medal.

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"These medals mean a lot to me too" - Caeleb Dressel after winning three medals at the Paris Olympics

Swimming - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Caeleb Dressel in action- Source: Getty

While Caeleb Dressel didn't win an individual medal at the Paris Olympics with all three of his medals coming in the relays, he claimed that it meant a lot to him nonetheless given the tough journey to reach there.

"I'm also proud of myself and how I handled myself throughout these games, and it wasn't easy. This whole year, the comeback, the training. I didn't get exactly the results I wanted individually to be honest. But it's just what comes with the sport. So these medals mean a lot to me too, just with the journey back that it was,” Caeleb Dressel told Olympics.com

The 28-year-old made his Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning two gold medals, and added seven more to his name since then. He also hasn't ruled out an appearance in front of his home crowd at the 2028 LA Olympics.