Sacred in 2015, Florent Manaudou was not in the final of the 2017 and 2019 Worlds. But it is because the Olympic champion in the 50m NL had abandoned the pools for the handball floors. In 2022, the captain of the French team, 31, will not be part of the Hungarian roller coaster either, but that is because he simply did not belong. Came out in the semi-finals with the 11th time (21′’97 more than 5/10ths behind Ben Proud, his former training partner at Energy Standard).
“It’s my level of the day, blows the Habs, who knew what to expect but has trouble cashing in. When we work less, we go slower. Talent is not enough all the time. I was hoping to work miracles, that wasn’t the case but it’s good for next year, it allows me to work on things. »
The silver medalist from the Tokyo Games (the only Japanese podium in French swimming) had opened the parachute wide before landing in the Duna Arena and had prepared for a possible disappointment. His self-esteem as a competitor still took a hit. “It’s hard to accept,” he says. It was especially hard this morning (Thursday morning 22′’04 in playoffs), I was a little ashamed of myself. Fighting to get to the final is not easy. When you put on the wetsuit and shave, you always hope to swim fast. But I must not forget that it was a year of transition. »
“In front crawl, I stop after 35 m”
His planetary reunion, seven years later, had, in fact, nothing of a major appointment. Upon his return from Japan in the summer of 2021, Manaudou left Marseille and his coach Julien Jacquier and set sail for Antibes to work with his friends Quentin Coton and Yoris Grandjean. The tricolor sprinter waited until January 17 to get back fully afloat after a few months of intermittent pools between football with friends, squash, volleyball or basketball. And above all change everything in his way of approaching the preparation.
“Quentin and Yoris are not my bosses. We meet once a week, we talk about feelings and the program, we even create sessions together, he confided to us at the end of winter. Me, it forces me to think and they to find new challenges to prevent me from getting bored a little. I have independence but it forces me to take responsibility. »
The Big Blue, who will skip the European Championships in Rome in August, also took advantage of this slow period to satisfy some requests from sponsors, which take up too much time and energy in a pre-Olympic year.
“A butterfly (where he was also eliminated in the semi-finals), on a technical level, I did a lot of things, he explains. There is less pressure to do well, it’s more exciting for me. In crawl, I stop after 35 m. It lacks a lot of work. We’ll watch and debrief all of this. Positive point, Manaudou still wants. And hopes to slowly ramp up from next year towards the only challenge that interests him before bowing out: seeing the podium at the 2024 Paris Games.
