Behind the Lens on Leon Marchand: Beyond Gold Series

When most people think about Olympic swimming, they picture race day. The crowd. The atmosphere. The medals.

What they do not see are the thousands of hours that happen long before an athlete ever steps onto the blocks.

Earlier this year, I joined the production team behind Leon Marchand: Beyond Gold as an underwater cinematographer and topside camera operator, filming Leon's Australian training campaign in the lead up to the World Championships following his extraordinary multi gold medal success at the Paris Olympics.

Produced by Xavier Marchand and Qlad Labs France, and premiering on France.TV, the series follows Leon during a period where much of his life revolved around one thing: training.

As a filmmaker, that meant documenting not just the performances everyone knows him for, but the thousands of repetitions, early mornings, and long days that sit behind them.