"This guy’s just like Michael Phelps on color sets"- Leon Marchand's rival Carson Foster names swimmer who excels in different intensity workouts

Carson Foster has compared his teammate Rex Maurer to legend Michael Phelps. The four-time gold medalist at the World Junior Championships competes for the University of Texas and recently gave his opinions on whom he considers is the best swimmer when it comes to color sets.

Foster is an acclaimed swimmer who broke Michael Phelps's under-10 national record of 100m butterfly. Foster shares a brilliant rivalry with French swimming star, Leon Marchand, which traces back to the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.

He appeared on the “Unfiltered Waters Podcast” with Olympic champions Katie Hoff and Missy Franklin. While offering his views on multiple subjects, Foster shared his thoughts and compared a teammate to the legendary Phelps when it came to swimming color sets.

“I love getting to come in Mondays especially. Monday practices are so hard, there are color sets but that's the practice where I'm like, I get pushed the most because Rex [Maurer] is the greatest color swimmer ever. It's unbelievable. He just takes like on, he's I don't know, I honestly don't know. There's been times where, I'm like 'maybe I'm bad at this but then I'm beating everyone else' or most of the time and so I'm like 'this guy is just like Michael Phelps on color sets'. And everyone will say if you ask, everyone they're like who's the best color set, it's Rex,” he said [36:27 onwards]

The NCAA champion and 11-time World Championship medalist, Foster named his teammate Rex Maurer as the most accomplished when it came to swimming color sets.

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Michael Phelps on French swimming sensation Leon Marchand breaking his record

Michael Phelps at the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race - Source: Getty

The 23-time Olympic gold medalist and unrivaled former swimmer, expressed his positive opinions on swimming icon Leon Marchand and his impressive achievements in the City of Love as per GQ Australia in August 2024. Marchand broke Phelps' 2008 record in the 200 IM at the Paris Olympics. Michael Phelps had clocked 1:54.23 and Marchand finished with 1:54.06.

“I’m not mad that he broke my 200m record. It doesn't matter. It is what it is. And for me, just being able to watch him be himself I think is something that's special. All records are made to be broken.”

Phelps, who is the most decorated Olympian in history, revealed that the records are achieved so that they can be taken over by future generations of prominent talents. He optimistically addressed the five-time Olympic medalist from France, who has also received training from prominent coach Bob Bowman.