He has not only installed himself as a superstar at his home Games but, aged 22, is already usurping his predecessors, having already broken Phelps’s record in the 400-metre individual medley. Olympic debutants just are not supposed to be this good.
This machine with invisible flippers attached to his feet started the night by turning on the magic in a breathtaking final 50-metres in the butterfly, harnessing every decibel of a thunderous crowd inside La Defense Arena to overtake Kristof Milan, the champion from Tokyo three years ago, with 30 metres remaining. He not only chased Milan down but also sneaked under the Olympic record previously set by the Hungarian, clocking 1min 51.21sec in his second record-breaking swim of these Games and surpassing Phelps’s record in the distance.
The butterfly is a complex stroke, but with his arms pummelling the water, every sinew of Marchand’s body moved in perfect symmetry. The key moment came after his third turn, when he pushed off the wall and embarked on one final push to the other end of the pool. He stayed completely submerged for the first 15 metres before his dark blue swimming cap bobbed above the surface at the crucial moment – to comply with a rule that had caught British swimmer Luke Greenback out earlier on in the day. From there he had a fading Milan in his grasp. Like a lion biding its time before ambushing its prey, he bombed down the final 30 metres.