Florent Manaudou thinks he will "always be a swimmer" after the 2020 Olympics

Swimmer Florent Manaudou, who hopes to conquer Olympic gold in the 50m freestyle, has changed training methods to avoid burnout

Florent Manaudou, back in the pools after a three-year break, prepares for the Tokyo Olympics while having "fun" - C. Saidi / SIPA

Almost a year after the announcement of his return, Florent Manaudou takes stock of his preparation for the Tokyo Olympics.
The swimmer, who divides his training time between Marseille and Antalya (Turkey), now considers taking more "pleasure" in training.
He also plans to continue his swimming career after the Olympic Games. "If I am in the same physical and mental state", specifies to "20 Minutes" the Olympic champion.

Oreo cookies for breakfast. A beer at noon to pass the mayo fries. Florent Manaudou will neither be the ambassador of French gastronomy, nor the dietary manager of the delegation to the Tokyo Olympics. But the Marseille swimmer would see himself as a standard bearer. Five months before the Games, he tells 20 Minutes behind the scenes of his preparation, on the sidelines of an event organized by his equipment supplier Arena.

Have you found the pleasure of training?

It's not the same kind of fun as handball: there are no balls, no friends, no goals. But there is more fun than in my previous career. Of the 300 days of the year spent in the water, there are only four or five that are interesting in competition. So if you don't take pleasure in training, it's complicated.

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Don't you miss handball?

Yes Yes ! But we have to make a distinction. If I take a ball, do a shoot and get injured, my coach will not be very happy, so I try to be a little wiser than before (laughs).

Have you changed your habits outside the pool?

When you start a week, if you haven't decompressed the weekend, you're not performing well in the water. Me, anyway. I need to get away, have a drink with my friends.

And even smoke a little cigarette once in a while?

I try not to do it, because it's complicated for the lungs. Alcohol is easier to get out I think. (Sharply) So I don't smoke.

What is your assessment of your season in ISL [a new competition created by the Ukrainian billionaire Konstantin Grigorishin]?

Pretty good because our [Energy Standard] team won by being unbeaten. It was cool to swim against competitors that I will find in the Olympic final - if I am there. The format is great, there is no cut, a little more show. We managed to create a real team. We saw him after the competitions. When we go for a drink and everyone comes, it's because there is a great team spirit.

The fact that this competition is ultra lucrative also makes it very interesting?

(He cuts) Ultra lucrative, we are not football or tennis. It is true that we earn a little more money than on other competitions, still you have to win races and it's hard against the best in the world! It's good for us to have a little more money at stake because when careers end, we find ourselves in a vacuum: the fact of being able to make our career profitable, it makes us happy.

Will you be participating in ISL again next season?

I hope so. It should start in early September, quite early. It's hard to plan for the post-Olympic Games, there will be a mental break after the Games but I think I will always be a swimmer in September.

Do you think so or are you sure?

You won't get the answer (laughs). I'm never sure: if I get hurt, for example. You never know what can happen after a great competition. I want to continue, so if I am in the same physical and mental state, I will be a swimmer. But there are a lot of things that can happen: saying now that I am sure and finally pretending to be an idiot by stopping, it's no use. So we will see. But chances are I'm still a swimmer in September.

Even if you don't win Olympic gold?

The outcome of the Games will not be decisive for my future career.

Many swimmers have experienced a kind of burnout in their career… Was that your case after Rio?

You can say it like that, yes. With experience, cutting when I want to cut, talking with my coaches without being closed on myself, it's easier to avoid that. With competitions like ISL, we travel, we see things, we meet people and there is less weariness. So, inevitably, burnout is less present.

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Alternate custody: Between Antalya and Marseille, the epicurean Florent Manaudou has not become an ascetic