The Tokyo Olympic vice-champion drags an infectious smile at the French championships in Limoges.
At 31, Florent Manaudou savors a rediscovered tranquility and good humor: “I have never been so happy to swim“, assures the Olympic vice-champion of the Tokyo Games during the French swimming championships in Limoges. For his entry into the running, Manaudou was beaten by the young Caledonian sprinter Maxime Grousset in the 50m butterfly. But he ensured the essential: his qualification for the World and European Championships this summer, despite a fright during the series which almost deprived him of the final.
«I rested a little too much on my laurels (…) But it’s good to still have moments like that, at my age, still making mistakes. We learn every day“, he admitted with philosophy. The quadruple Olympic medalist approaches his week in the Limousin with relaxation: “I don’t necessarily have a time in mind, I would like to have fun and take as many marks as possible.“, he explains simply.
Eight months after winning silver in the 50m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics, Manaudou is back in the pools for a season.of transitionwhich should lead him to the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and now welcomes the pressure of the result with detachment.
Read alsoOlympic Games: Driven by Olympic magic, Manaudou wins silver in the 50m freestyle
«The pressure is the same, but I put it less“, he says. “I have already won what I wanted to win. There I am in an environment where I am very happy and putting pressure on a week like that, I know it is not really useful.» «What I keep from my career is not necessarily the World, European or French Championships… It’s really the human adventure“, he continues. “And for the moment, the human adventure that I have been living since October, it is incredible.»
“At the center of my project”
Because since October, Manaudou has changed his living environment. He trains today in Antibes under the direction of a tandem of coaches, Quentin Coton and Yoris Grandjean, who are also close friends. This change “brings me a lot of peace of mind in my everyday life. I wonder how I could do without until then“, he admits, confident that he suffered from a lack of complicity with his previous coach.
«I put myself at the center of my project and (…) put all the actors I wanted to have around me, the physios, the osteo, the physical trainer, the mental trainer, the pilates teacher, etc.» «So far it seems to work“, he says. “It works on my energy, on my mood, and I have the intimate conviction that it will also work on performance (…) In any case, I’ve never been so happy to swim so it’s already a victory .»
We are a long way from the state of mind that reigned post-Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. Out of breath and without inspiration, the little brother of Laure Manaudou had then decided to abandon the pools to indulge in his passion for youth, handball. He then returned to swimming after a break of more than two years.
“Not the end of the worlde»
«My swimming stop, my transition to handball did me a lot of good. It made me put into perspective what I really wanted, it was me who chose to come back. (At the time) I continued my career because I was good and that’s it, but it was not a choice. There, it’s a real choice and I really enjoy it.»
A serenity with which he envisages the continuation of his 2022 season with the World Championships in Budapest (June 18-July 3) and the Euro in Rome (August 11-21). His goal for the Worlds? “I would like to swim faster than at the Games (21 secs 55, editor’s note). I would like to do my best time since my return, so I will be happy with a 21.4 and a medal».
But it’s decided, his summer will be stress-free. “After if there is no medal, it will not be the end of the world either, it is not the main objective of this season. (The goal) is really to rediscover a daily life and feel good about myself to prepare for the next two years, but if I’m able to win a medal, I’ll do it. Why not?»