Léon Marchand's cold call email could end in homegrown Olympic glory
Former Arizona State University swimming coach Bob Bowman might have spiked a random email that showed up in his inbox four years ago if the sender's name hadn't rung a bell.
Former Arizona State University swimming coach Bob Bowman might have spiked a random email that showed up in his inbox four years ago if the sender's name hadn't rung a bell.
Marchand?
"Thinking back when I first got that email, the first thing I thought was, 'Marchand? Xavier Marchand?'" Bowman said recently of his prized pupil, Léon Marchand, and his father, Xavier Marchand, a two-time French Olympic swimmer. "I thought about his dad. I wonder if they are related and they were, of course."
Bowman, best known as the coach of all-time swimming great Michael Phelps, did some quick research to find out who this young, emailing stranger was.
"So then he basically said, 'Do you think maybe you'd be interested in having me on your team?'" said Bowman, who recently led ASU to the NCAA team swimming title before taking the head job at the University of Texas. "And then I looked up his times and I was like, 'Uh, yeah, most certainly we'd be happy to have you on our team.'"
Rating: 5