Olympics-Swimming-Coach Bowman fulfils promise as Marchand claims unprecedented double

By Rohith Nair

PARIS (Reuters) - American coach Bob Bowman was left beaming when Leon Marchand claimed a sensational 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke double gold at the Paris Games on Wednesday, breaking Olympic records in both events that were held less than two hours apart.

Bowman, who coached the greatest Olympian of all time in 28-times Olympic medallist Michael Phelps, took Marchand under his wing in college in Arizona and the Frenchman did not leave his side when the now 59-year-old coach moved to Austin, Texas.

With the home fans behind him at a rocking La Defense Arena, Marchand dethroned two Olympic champions -- Hungary's Kristof Milak in the 200m butterfly and Australia's Zac Stubblety-Cook in the 200m breaststroke.

"I'm so proud of him... I don't know that I've ever seen somebody win two individual events (in the same session). Tonight was amazing, he'll never forget it," Bowman told reporters.

"Quite honestly, this whole meet is about me fulfilling a promise I made to a kid three years ago, and that I could come through and deliver because not only was it a challenge for him, it was a huge challenge for me.

"So to put it together and see it come to fruition, it's incredibly satisfying to be able to help him meet this moment."

Bowman said it was Marchand's idea to swim in both races, with the American saying that until a week ago, he wanted the 22-year-old to race in only one.

"But he was pretty confident. He was like, 'Let's just see how the morning goes. Well, that was pretty easy. Let's see how the semis go... OK, that was pretty good'. So we just stuck with it. He knew more than me," Bowman added.

"I was not afraid because he was prepared. The butterfly was a huge challenge because Milak is next level. So when that one came through I was feeling pretty good about the second one because he was in such good spirits."

With three gold medals in the bag and the individual medley to come, Bowman said Marchand can "improve quite a bit" while his next challenge would be dealing with the fame now that he has become a household name.

"He doesn't know about it yet but he's got to survive the success," Bowman added

"He has no idea but I know exactly what's next. He has to somehow find his way back to a pool in Austin, Texas and start going up and down it.

"So if he does that, I think he'll be good. But that'll be the next challenge. We'll enjoy this one first."

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Paris; Editing by Hugh Lawson)