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Ludovic Cadene's baag Laure Manaudou

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Laure Manaudou born October 9, 1986 in Villeurbanne.  She is the daughter of Jean-Luc Manaudou and Olga Schippers, of Dutch origin.  She has two brothers: Nicolas, who was born exactly one year before her, and Florent, born in 1990.

From 6 to 14 years, she was part of the Ambérieu en Bugey swimming club, in Ain, where she spent her childhood.

She was noticed by Philippe Lucas, trainer married to a former swimmer for the French Olympic team that became her trainer.  The first years, she left to live at his home in Melun before moving there, in an apartment close to the pool in Melun.

The Hope of Laure Manaudou

In 2001, when she was only 15 years old, Laure earned 2 silver medals in the 50 and 100 meter backstroke during the time of the European Juniors Championship in Malta.  The following year, during the European Juniors Championships in Linz, in Austria, she became the European Juniors Champion in the 100 meter backstroke and double Vice-European Champion in the 50 meters backstroke and the 200 meter 4 swims.

In 2003, during the French Championships in Saint-Étienne, she earned 5 gold medals (400, 800, 1500 meter free swim ; 50 and 100 meter backstroke), she broke 4 French records and qualified for the World Championships in Barcelona.  Deprived of her trainer and mentor, she obtains disappointing results.  However, the year 2003 finished with a bronze medal in the 100 meter backstroke earned during the European Championships in a small pool in Dublin.

In 2004, during the French Championships in Dunkirk, she obtained 4 national titles.  During the European Championships in Madrid, she earned 3 gold medals.  In the Olympic Games in Athens, she earned 3 Olympic Medals.  It's the first time since 1952, that France brought home a gold medal in swimming.  

In 2005, during the French Championships in Nancy, she earned 5 national titles. At the World Championships in Montreal, she received the gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle.  At the French Championships in a small pool in Chalon-sur-Saône, she won 6 national titles and broke 8 records.  At the European Championships in a small pool in Trieste, she obtained 3 gold medals (400, 800 meters freestyle; 100 meters backstroke) and broke world records in the 400 meter (3'56"79) and the 800 meter freestyle (8'11"25).  At the end of the year, she won the interclubs with CN Melun.

The Champion

It began in 2006, during the French Championships in Tours, when Laure became a true champion.  There, she won 9 national titles (200, 400, 800, 1500 meter freestyle ; 100 and 200 meter backstroke ; 4 X 200 and 4 X 400 meters 4 swims; relays 4 x 200 meters freestyle with her club from Melun) and broke the mythic world record on May 12, 2006 of the 400 meter freestyle in a big pool (50 m).

During the European Championships in August 2006 in Budapest, she won seven medals overall (4 in gold): 400 and 800 meter freestyle, 100 meter backstroke and 200 meters 4 swims; 3 in bronze: 200 meter freestyle, relays 4 x 200 meter freestyle and 4 x 100 meters 4 swims).