"If Leon Marchand wants to look Michael Phelps in the eye, he must win and be present all the time" - Former basketball player Stephen Brun

Former French basketball player Stephen Brun recently weighed in for his compatriot Leon Marchand, the quadruple Olympic champion, in his quest to match the swimming greatness of the American legend Michael Phelps. Marchand recently secured three gold medals at the Swimming World Cup in Shanghai.

Marchand is often regarded as the next swimmer capable of matching the level of Phelps, a record 28-time Olympic medalist. In this context, Brun recently stressed that for Marachand to reach Phelps' level of greatness, he must win every competition he enters, whether it is the European championships or the world championships.

"If he wants to be the greatest swimmer in the world and look Michael Phelps in the eye, Léon Marchand must win all the competitions: the European championships, the world championships. He must win medals and be present all the time," Brun said (via Super Moscato Show)

The 22-year-old Frenchman had an incredible 2024 season thus far, where he claimed five medals at the Paris Olympics. Merchand won gold medals in all the individual events he competed in, including the 400m individual medley, 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, and 200m individual medley, along with a bronze in the men’s 4x100 meter medley.

Notably, all of his golds came in with new Olympic record times. In addition, the competition also marked Marchand becoming the first male swimmer in history since Michael Phelps to win four gold medals at the same Olympic Games.

Furthermore, the Bob Bowman protégé maintained his tremendous form at the recent Swimming World Cup in Shanghai, adding three more gold medals to his kitty. He secured victories in the 100m medley, the 200m medley, and the 400m medley while setting a new European and World Cup record in the 200m medley.

However, the Toulouse native missed out on securing a podium finish in the 200m breaststroke.

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"Go get it tonight." - When Michael Phelps encouraged Leon Marchand to break his record

Leon Marchand pictured at the 2024 Summer Olympics (Source: Getty)

Michael Phelps once encouraged Leon Marchand to break his record during the 2023 World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka. Marchand responded by smashing Phelp's 400m individual medley record of 4:03.84 with a new best-of 4:02.50.

"I’d just finished my 400 metres in the preliminaries, before the final. Michael was in the stands and he called me over. It was the first time I’d met him and he said, ‘Go get it tonight.’ He was excited for me. I felt really good after the prelims. I’d met a legend and I was ready to go," Marchand said (via Prestige).

At the Paris Olympics, Leon Marchand also broke the American phenom's 200m individual medley Olympic record that he set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.