Australian silver medallist Zac Stubblety-Cook felt like he was a rugby game, not an Olympic swim meet.
Stubblety-Cook is hailing the emergence of French hero Leon Marchand as "awesome" for swimming - despite it costing him another Olympic gold medal.
Stubblety-Cook claimed a silver medal behind Marchand in the final of the 200m breaststroke when the Parisian powerhouse basked in home-town support.
"It didn't feel like a swim meet," Stubblety-Cook said.
"It felt like at a rugby game ... you can't hear yourself think.
"A crowd I'll never swim in front of that big again, it's awesome for the sport."
Marchand is now a triple gold medallist at his home Games and his every appearance has come amid wild backing from a 17,000-strong crowd at the Paris La Defense Arena.
The Frenchman won two golds in a one-hour span on Wednesday night, his second triumph denying Stubblety-Cook consecutive Olympic titles in the breaststroke event.
And the Dolphin said the best was yet to come from the 22-year-old Marchand, who is the French face of their Games.
"He's got a motor and he's hungry ... he is probably on the cusp of being arguably the greatest swimmer to come," Stubblety-Cook said.
"We're only just seeing the beginning of Leon.
"It's his moment. And maybe if it was someone else, I wouldn't be as happy for him.
"But I'm stoked for him to have that moment in front of a home crowd, for him to soak that up is awesome and see him achieve that.
"I can't complain."
