Glasgow (AFP)

Florent Manaudou, European silver medalist in the 50m short course eight months after returning to swimming, with the ambition to reclaim Olympic gold in 2020, is still learning to domesticate the competition and its pitfalls. And tame a remodeled body.

. The head...

On 50 m Friday, a semi-final "completely nil" with "all possible mistakes" and a final over with "cramps due to tension" came to remind Manaudou that two and a half years without swimming did not fade in the blink of an eye. Even when you are 2012 Olympic Champion and 2016 Olympic Vice-Champion in the 50m. And even if he has "forgotten limit" his break post-OJ-2016 and his interstate handball.

On the contrary, this is exactly what his coach James Gibson insists. "We must not forget that he did not swim for two and a half years and that it's been eight months since he was back in the water," said the British technician, who stressed the importance of the Scottish competition "to get back into the big championship swim, relearn how to handle the turns, the tension ...".

"Tense all day" of the 50 m but "much more freed" then, Manaudou, who accumulated nine round trips in the pool of Tollcross, relies on his relay in the final of the 4x50 mixed Saturday to continue its progression .

"I had the impression of flying on the water, not in terms of speed, but of sensations, I'm not clenched, I have a completely different swimming (from the one in individual Friday, ed), I would like to I think it will bring me a lot for the next races. "

In small pool, it remains the Championships of France next week in Angers, then the final of the ISL, the private circuit launched in the fall, late December in Las Vegas. In big pool, before the French Championships qualifiers for the Olympics-2020 mid-April, it should be summarized in two outings, in Luxembourg (24-26 January) and Marseille (20-22 March).

. ... and the legs

Since diving again, Manaudou also composes with a different body, weighed five kilos compared to 2016.

"Since I came back, I'm told that I'm more imposing," he smiles, "but I think I have less body fat than before."

"Sometimes I think I have to lose weight because pulling 105 kilos instead of 99 kilos is harder, but I have more strength too, it's still the same story of power-to-weight ratio. "he weighs.

How has the Manaudou 2.0 evolved by the hand? In short, it is stronger, but less flexible at the joints, which is reflected in the non-swimmers.

"I'm stronger in the legs, I push harder on the stud, on the wall," he says, "I do not think I'm stronger, but I can transfer that power to the upper body."

"But I have less elasticity than before, I have a stiffer back, for example," he says, "if I can keep the strength by bringing back a little elasticity, it can be really cool. I can swim faster than before. "

"Underwater, I'm less strong but I swim faster than before.That's a good omen for the big pool," sums up Manaudou.

. In training, the right balance

In training anyway, Manaudou, who will continue to share his time between Antalya, Turkey, where Gibson works, and Marseille, where Julien Jacquier supervises him, in addition to internships in South Africa in January and in Tenerife, Canary Islands, in February, found the right balance.

"There is a good exchange with James and Julien, I really like working with both of them, we really work in a triangle, at 20 I would not have known who to listen, I would have been a little scattered. years is a plus, I can get the best of both, "he told AFP in early October.

On the other side of Antalya, there is a very tight environment: "It's really perf, perf, perf in unbelievable conditions, with a very fast band.I have a program with a coach, a physical trainer ... And we are like spoiled children: we have the buffet, we make our machines ... "

Side facing Marseille, "a lot of freedom". What he could not do without, admits he: "I walk to pleasure and having discovered the world out of sport, it's complicated for me to be in a mold".

© 2019 AFP