NANTERRE, France — Léon Marchand has said he likes the silence underwater. That moment when he finishes a lap, flips his body over, presses his feet upon the wall and fires himself forward. Down there, he’s on his own, even if his country, and the world, are watching.
For 15 meters Wednesday night, after coming to the final lap of the 200-meter butterfly nearly a full second behind Hungary’s Kristóf Milák, Marchand was submerged for what seemed like forever. Meanwhile, out in the air, the people of France made a sound like you’ve never heard.
The wait ended when Marchand broke the surface of the water, suddenly neck-and-neck with Milák. Down
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