Amaury Leveaux, who lost to Alain Bernard at the French Nationals in the short course meters 100 freestyle, clearly had more in the tank. Leveaux's turned in four world best times now at the European Championships. Check out his sub 45 second 100 free:
Leveaux's on Facebook, and a friend (along with over 4,100 other friends). I'm also a new friend of his brothers, Aurelien Leveaux, the Junior French Champion in 50 butterfly... Speed in the water obviously runs in the family...
It should be noted that Amaury Leveaux turned in all four world best times wearing a TYR suit (the same suit American Peter Marshall wore when he broke the 100 back world records in mid November).
I don't know Leveaux, yet, but I will make his acquaintance in the future. He seems to have a rock-star quality. Check out his photos and decide for yourself.
I'm a lover of Olympic tats, but Leveaux has taken the swimmer-tat to a new level. Checkout his back!
Rolling into 2009 World Championships in Rome, Leveaux is clearly a man to keep your eye on......
Maly, I didn't know that! What a great piece of info.... Alex is a great guy.... Knowing that Leveaux essentially just starting lifting is kind of scary. He clearly has a lot of time to drop in the future.....
Posted by: goldmedalmel | December 15, 2008 at 12:45 PM
amaury said in beijing alexander popov told him that with more work and trust in himself he could win . since beijing he is doing more dry land , he started weigth lifting only two years ago!
Posted by: maly | December 15, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Guillaume, thanks for the insight... French Swimming stars are becoming more and more important to US Swimming fans, and yet, we stlll don't know enough about them...
Posted by: goldmedalmel | December 15, 2008 at 08:25 AM
Amaury has always been considered as a very fast swimmer, but he was not yet focussed on swimming. As Laure Manaudou had train with him before the Olympics he discovered what is a "star" on the pool ( if we can say Laure was still a star in early 2008). He understood he had to swim fast and it could be possible if he truthed in himself.
That's what the 50 silver medal in Beijing give him.
for the tatt, the big wings were a fake, but you can see some of Momo's collection on my flickr:
www.flickr.com/guyomedw
Posted by: Guillaume | December 14, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Megan, Rome gonna awesome...........................
Posted by: Mel Stewart | December 14, 2008 at 03:33 PM
Whoa. That's some crazy-good swimming right there! Rome will definitely be exciting... :)
Posted by: Megan | December 14, 2008 at 01:59 PM
Yes! The TYR suit is the same!
And I was just telling my wife the exact same thing: I think the French 4x100 is going to be insane in Rome next year. The USA has its work cut out. BTW, all 4 US sprinters are returning for Worlds. MP will be the last to start training again in late Jan....
Posted by: Mel Stewart | December 14, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Is the TYR suit the same version as that used by swimmers like Matt Grevers in Beijing Olympics or a newer version? Wow, just how the French sprinters especially Amaury Leveaux have improved after the Olympics is stunning. I know short course is very different from long course. But still it seems the French team will be hard to beat in the 4 x 100 Free Relay in Rome. Any thoughts?
Posted by: MP Fan | December 14, 2008 at 10:53 AM