Léon Marchand excused from the French swimming championships

An exceptional favor. Léon Marchand has been excused from participating in the French Swimming Championships from June 14 to 19, the Federation announced Thursday, which "has paid particular attention to his situation, given his exceptional performances at the 2024 Olympic Games," where he won four gold medals.

"This decision […] is, however, exceptional and specific to this post-Olympic year; it will not be repeated," the body added, specifying that to qualify for the World Championships in Singapore from July 27 to August 3, 2025, "Léon Marchand will have to achieve, during the sports season, the times required by the selection criteria in the 50-meter pool."

After his five medals, including four gold in Paris last summer, the Olympic hero will not be returning to the French public anytime soon. The soon-to-be-23-year-old swimmer participated in the 25-meter World Cup in Asia in October, before finally withdrawing from the short-course World Championships at the end of the year, saying he was "exhausted." "I had a bit of a slump in terms of energy and mentality. I didn't really want to get up in the morning to go to training. I was a little more tired than normal," he explained recently.

To recover, he decided to spend several months in Australia, where he was able to train, enjoy the country, and discover its culture. Back in the United States with his coach Bob Bowman, he returned to competition at the beginning of the month at an international meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was able to assess his current form and test himself in a new race, the 400m freestyle.

He took 3rd place in this distance and then 8th place in the 200m freestyle. He was then beaten by the American Bobby Finke in the 400m medley, his favorite distance, and finished his comeback competition with a 2nd place in the 200m medley behind the American Shaine Casas.

In Marchand's absence, the headliners for the French championships in Montpellier are expected to be Olympic medalists Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, Maxime Grousset and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard.

Updated at 12:25 p.m. with more details