“It’s good timing. I have four years to prepare for Los Angeles. I have the time. I can surf, make the most of Australia, and it’s going to change me a bit.”

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Italian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist Thomas Ceccon will also head to Australia to train under Boxall.

Bowman, who is the director of swimming and diving at the University of Texas, was the man who coached 23-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Phelps.

The son of two Olympic swimmers, Marchand sent France into a frenzy during the Games when he won two gold medals in 118 minutes, and by the end of his Olympic campaign had won gold in the 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, and a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay in Paris.

The Frenchman’s medal haul mirrored that of Phelps in Athens 20 years earlier, and Bowman didn’t shy away from the comparison when asked during the Games.

“Well, it is similar, right? They are both performing on this high level,” Bowman said. “Leon joins Michael in that very rare club of people who, when the pressure is higher, they perform better. There have been a lot of great swimmers. He is certainly one of the greats.”

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