Leadership in Recognition

On July 25th 2023 during the FINA swimming world championships celebrated in Japan, Leon Marchand, a well known French swimmer both in the states, where he studies, as well as globally for his incredible performances in the pool, smashed Micheal Phelps last standing world record. For those who don’t know, Michael Phelps is considered the swimming world’s GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), having won every single accolade in swimming history, including the most Olympic medals ever won by an athlete, 28 over the course of 5 Olympic Games and 8 in a single Olympic (Beijing 2008).

With a resume like that you have the ability to go through life talking about your accomplishments without ever boring anybody, after all you have earned it. But on that day, when Marchand was swimming the final’s heat of the 400 individual medley (im), and Phelps was in the stands broadcasting the race, he briefly did what very few (certainly not me) expected, he mentioned a competitor to refer to someone who together with him, moved the sport forward, specifically taking the “underwater kick in the event to another level”. It is very important to understand that in that moment, when Marchand was swimming to glory, he was doing it to beat Phelps record not by hundredths of a second but by more that a full second, an improvement rarely seen these days in such a competitive environment, not only in swimming but in any other individual performance sports.

In as much as Michael Phelps is the most recognized, celebrated and decorated swimmer ever, his performances and records in many of the events he competed were accompanied by a nemesis, another American swimmer, one of the very few that can say traded 1st and 2nd places with Phelps for years at the world stage, Ryan Lochte. After Phelps smashed the record held for the most Olympic medals won in a single Games (7) in Beijing 2008, Lochte was one of the most famous swimmers in the following Games, the 2012 London Olympics, most important of all winning the 400im gold medal and beating Phelps in the process.

Later in 2016 at the Brazil Olympics, with both Phelps and Lochte’s swimming careers in sunset, the later became even more famous for the wrong reasons, but that is an entirely different subject not for this article. Since then Lochte has been relatively kept as an obscure figure even within the swimming circles. But while many have sidelined him, you can’t take away his accomplishments, as his 7 individual Olympic medals are second all-time in men's swimming history, only to, you guessed it, Michael Phelps.?

Which brings me to the point of this article. Right at the moment when Marchand was about to beat Phelps’ last standing world record, he mentioned that Leon was moving the sport forward just as he and Ryan (Lochte) had done years before. Let that sinc for a moment and reflect on this leadership trade, the GOAT chose to mention his nemesis to recognize that it was not just him but a competitor that together moved the sport and specifically the 400im event forward. In that single act of Recognition, Phelps showed more leadership than many of the well known sport broadcasters and other less public figures, that have placed Ryan Lochte in this dark and unmentionable place where his accomplishments deserve not to be. Well done Michael Phelps!

Final update: At the time of making this available on LinkedIn, Leon Marchand also won gold at the swimming world championships on July 27th, not breaking Ryan Lochte's world record but becoming only the third human in history to swim 200im under 1:55.00.