What impression did Bob Bowman make at the first meeting?
– I liked how he understood me well, he immediately told me what my shortcomings were and what I could improve with him. He showed that he was watching me before, and he knew how to swim and what I needed.
“We got in too!”
Breaststroke is obviously a huge weakness for me, he brought this up right away, but everyone can see that. We talked about the fact that, especially in training, I lack something extra, which helps me take off in competitions. I told you I wanted to be on the podium in WC, and that I had been preparing for so long that, compared to that I fought in vain, I couldn’t even improve my junior world record, only finishing 6th in the 200 medley. I feel deep inside myself that something is missing. He replied that he could help me with exactly this, because the League Championship prepares me well for difficult situations.
– In our aforementioned conversation before the World Cup, he talked about that particular big period. in Rome, Won the long-awaited gold medal in the European Championship, but the “big time” is still wasted. What do you think if Bowman invokes from you what he thinks he is capable of, he will be able to compete against Leon Marchand?
– I am sure. I’ve felt this big time inside of me for a long time, actually since the European Championships last year, but I train mixed like everyone else in the world, because for three or four years there hasn’t been anyone in my group that I work with who could compete, and I’m basically swimming Alone.
We tried swimming with Girgili Giorta, Nandor Nemeth, Benedik Kovacs and Christoph Milak, but Nandi and Benny are already training elsewhere, and Christophe is an Olympic champion, his rhythm is different, and it’s hard to coordinate. At home, I can’t normally compete in mixed events, which I miss a lot.
Marchand in a year. It has undergone incredible development under Bowman’s guidance. Do you trust the same?
“yes.” I actually watched Leon at the Olympics last year, in Tokyo he was a finalist in the 400 medley, he swam with a time of 4:09, and he was very tired. Then he went out to train with Bob, and a year later he slipped that time already in the morning in the World Cup preliminaries, and he wasn’t even tired. I knew that in the final he was going to spend a lot of time, because the amount of work he did with Bob was obvious. He got away with 4:04 at the Duna Arena, and everyone thought he nearly broke Phelps’ world space record, and he also won a gold medal in the 200’s.
– What did Marchand tell him that they will be direct training partners from January?
– We are in contact, we started getting to know each other after the World Cup. He said he was looking forward to me getting out and competing with each other. It was good to hear, because some people don’t like it when someone hits them even in training, but I don’t see that in Lyon, so I’m looking forward to working together.
In a comment, Leon Marchand was one of the first to congratulate Hubert Koss on his Instagram announcement:
“It’s nice to have Bob Bowman as his coach, but in Arizona.” There are many classic swimmers in the teamIn addition to Marchand, we can also mention Olympic 400 medley champ Chase Kalish. Will Bowman really be the one standing next to you at the edge of the pool and telling you what to do and how to do it?
“yes.” We are already in constant contact, we talked a lot during the European Championships, and he continued to swim.
– From his point of view, did you talk about the old great opponent, Laszlo Cze? By the way, who is your role model…
Not yet, but I will certainly ask Bob what it was like to prepare against Lacey with Phelps for so many years. We’ve heard so many times what it was like to prepare against Phelps, but I’m also interested in the other side, and what he thinks about Lacey.
