Amaury Leveaux Encore – French Blocks Tremble In Anticipation Of Trials, Tribulations & Triumphs Anew (Videos)

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Amaury Leveaux is back on the Olympic campaign trail and gunning for gold in the 50m free - Photo Courtesy: Amaury Leveaux - stills from "Dijon Ville #VLOG01 - Je Prepare les JO de Tokyo 2020", YouTube #VLOG01 - Je Prepare les JO de Tokyo 2020", YouTube

Last September, French sprint ace Amaury Leveaux was finally getting back to fighting-fit shape after a steady comeback that began in 2018. A five-year break from the pool, a time during which he penned a controversial book and became a father, meant that he had a lot of work to do if he was to have a shot at clearing the high bar he’d set himself: Olympic 50m freestyle champion at Tokyo 2020 at the age of 34.

Enter COVID-19. Postponement. Another year to wait. Not a bad thing, Leveaux may well feel as he returned to pool training this week after weeks of lockdown and dry land work.

The shunt of seasons not only grants the Frenchman an extra year of preparation and a steadier swim in to French trials and then, all being well, the Games. There’s also this: it adds another line of motivation to Leveaux’s list of ambitions: victory in Tokyo would make him the oldest Olympic swimming champion in history, by a few months.

At Rio 2016, Anthony Ervin wrote one of the biggest comeback success stories in Olympic history. Joint gold with USA teammate Gary Hall Jr. in the 50m freestyle at Sydney 2000 as a 19-year-old was followed by World titles in the 50 and 100m freestyle a year later in Fukuoka. There were silvers in the 50m freestyle and 4x100m free at Pan Pacific Championships in 2002 – and that’s where his big podium days came to an end … for at least a decade.

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Amaury Leveaux finding his balance and speed in the pool once more – – Photo Courtesy: Amaury Leveaux – stills from “Dijon Ville
#VLOG01 – Je Prepare les JO de Tokyo 2020″, YouTube

Ervin had packed some work in before he made the American cut for the London 2012 Olympic Games, where he finished 6th in the 50m freestyle final and watched the U.S. 4x100m free quartet get a bloody nose in a fight with a French quartet that boasted Leveaux up front and Yannick Agnel firing in the form of his life to deliver Gallic gold.

On the way to Rio 2016, Ervin penned his memoirs with co-author Constantine Markides. Good timing: in Brazil, Ervin kept defending champion Florent Manaudou at bay  in the 50m free, felled the rest of the field and, in taking gold, made “the oldest winner of solo gold in the Olympic pool” one of the briefest encounters with a pioneering standard that Michael Phelps, winner of the 200m butterfly and 200m medley that same week, had ever known.

Ervin was 35 years, two months and eight days old when he celebrated a second record: at 16 years wide, his 2000 and 2016 victories represented the biggest gap between triumph in the same event – or any event – in Olympic swimming. Published by Akashic Books, Chasing Water is a stirring tale very well told and worth the time of any who love swimming – and many beyond that, too.

His comeback for London having come close (21.65) but not close enough, Ervin’s Mind-the-Gap moment had to wait until Rio, where he set a record likely to stand a while yet. The Tokyo delay now means that Leveaux, by default, is chasing that ‘oldest, dashing-est of dashers in the Olympic pool’ title: he will be 35 years and almost eight months old by the time whoever makes it to the 50m final in Tokyo climbs onto their blocks.

Pieter Timmers will not be one of them. Like Leveaux, the Belgian silver medallist over 100m free in Rio, returned to training this week but only with a view to fulfilling his last pre-retirement appointment: as part of the International Swimming League’s generation of Pro-Pioneers on education/training/racing camp in October-November, virus permitting, says founder and funder Konstantin Grigorishin.

Timmers had been hanging on for a last European Championships but when the Budapest event was shunted into 2021, the Belgian ace declared “time to move on”. 2020 would have been his swan-song season. COVID-19 did for that, perspective to be found in his country’s sorrow – excluding microstates, Belgium is the world’s worst-affected country in terms of the number of deaths per head of population (9,629 deaths from 59,569 registered infections = 831 per million as of this day). The ISL tour will now mark Timmers’ transition to the rest of life.

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Amaury Leveaux embraces pain for gain – Photo Courtesy: Amaury Leveaux – stills from “Dijon Ville
#VLOG01 – Je Prepare les JO de Tokyo 2020″, YouTube

Leveaux is heading in the opposite direction and back into the weave and wave of a France Vs USA freestyle sprint rivalry he came out on top of last time round as a member of the French quartet that took revenge on the USA and Jason Lezak‘s monumental bouncing, digging, clawing, self-willing, mind-over-matter, body rolling drubbing of Alain Bernard to deliver gold at Beijing 2008.

Let’s be clear: Leveaux, who may yet make a very useful signing for an ISL team, has a mountain to climb. At the helm of the large club of current-gen’ folk who have swum a long-course 50 free faster than Leveaux: Caeleb Dressel, Florent Manaudou, Ben Proud, Vladimir Morozov, Bruno Fratus  … a place in the dash final in Tokyo would be an impressive achievement for anyone, Leveaux included.

Here’s where Leveaux got to at his very best first time round over 50m freestyle:

  • In the shiny suits seasons of 2008 and 2009, Leveaux’s best of 12 sub-22sec blasts was the 21.25 he clocked at Rome World Championships – for bronze behind César Cielo‘s 21.08 and Leveaux’s France team-mate Frédérick Bousquet, on 21.21.
  • In textile, Leveaux’s top speed was 21.93, clocked at French nationals in 2012, the year in which he would go to the London Olympics and swim a lifetime best of 48.13 over 100m leading France to glory in the 4x100m relay.
  • Short-course, we find Leveaux sizzling on the clock a decade on: his 44.94 from European s/c Championships in Rijeka in December 2008 remains the World record.
  • In the 50m, Leveaux remains the 5th fastest man ever with the 7th best performance ever – 20.48 – on a list topped by France team-mate Florent Manaudou, on 20.26 for the World title in 2014, two years after his Olympic victory at London 2012 in a long-course 21.34 ahead of Cullen Jones, USA, on 21.54, and  Cielo, on 21.59 four years after his own victory in Beijing.

Amaury Leveaux and the bodysuit breakthrough – Photo Courtesy – TYR, 2008

In December 2008, from the Rijeka showcase of the European s/c Championships, dispatches from Day 3 finals included this on a 100m final that produced the 100th World record of the year:

  • WR: 44.94 Leveaux (FRA) 100 free
  • WR: 1:50.60 Svkortsov (RUS) 200 ‘fly
  • WR: 26.23 Jovanovic (CRO) 50 back
  • ER: 49.66 Wildeboer (ESP) 100 back
  • ER and world best for Dutch medley divas
  • 101 WRs so far this year
  • 127 ERs so far this year

The face of swimming changed beyond recognition at the European short-course championships in Rijeka as Amaury Leveaux, of France, stunned the sport with the 100th world record of a year in which shiny suits have rocketed the sport a decade ahead of itself. Leveaux’s 44.94sec victory in the 100m freestyle compares to the 45.83 at which the sprint mark stood until last weekend. A second gain over 100m is unheard of. The world record fell to France’s Alain Bernard in 45.69 only last weekend. Leveaux got past that with a 45.12 effort in the semi-finals on Saturday that sent shock waves rippling around the world of swimming.

Leveaux, 23 and from Mulhouse, said: “I desperately wanted to break that mythical barrier of 45 seconds – and I did it!” No one else came remotely close. Silver went to teammate Fabien Gilot in 45.84 and bronze to 2007 world l/c champion Filippo Magnini (ITA), in 46.62. Just 13 months ago, the world mark stood at 46.74 to Russian Alex Popov, quadruple Olympic champion. That time is now the 39th best effort ever …

Amaury Leveaux’s First-Time Round Legacy

Amaury Leveaux was born in Belfort on December 2, 1985, the year Rowdy Gaines‘ four-year reign as global 100m pace-setter (Gaines a man who shone at a home Games in 1984 four years after he and team-mates were denied by boycott) came to a close with the advent of Matt Biondi, the first man to crack 49sec over two lengths.

At 6ft 8 (2:02m) and weighing in at 194 lb (88kg), Leveaux cut an impressive and, to some, an intimidating figure on the blocks. Latterly, he raced for Club Lagardère Paris Racing. By the time he retired in 2013, Leveaux had amassed 30 international podium places for self and France, including 13 golds, among them 4x100m free crowns at Olympic, World and European levels. In the little pool, he was the man to beat for a while, eight s/c continental crowns in his pantheon.

At the 2008 French national championships, Leveaux qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympics in the 50m and 200m freestyle events and in the heat of the moment and the rush for 4x100m free places, ended in fifth over two lengths. The solo berth was lost but the relay beckoned.

It was the first flush of Olympic polyurethane, and in the 4x100m free heats in Beijing, Americans Nathan Adrian (48.82), Cullen Jones (47.61), Ben Wildman-Tobriner (48.03) and Matt Grevers (47.77) set a World record of 3:12.23.

Leveaux led the French heats quartet with an Olympic 100m free record of 47.76, Grégory Mallet (48.14), Boris Steimetz (49.83) and Frédérick Bousquet (46.63) following for a European standard of 3:12.36 at a time when records in the pool started to feel more ten-a-penny than the special moments they ought to be.

BEIJING, CHINA AUGUST 11TH, 2008--USA' Garrett Weber-Gale, left, and Michael Phelps celebrate with Jason Lezak, in the pool, the gold medal in the 4x100 Freestyle Relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The bodysuit party at Beijing 2008 – Photo Courtesy: Wally Skalij

The shiny suits were significant to the speed in the final, too, of course: 2 world, four continental and 11 national records tumbled in one relay race. At the helm of it all was that USA Vs France battle of the bodies, Australia on the coat-tails of it.

  • Michael Phelps (47.51) AM; Garrett Weber-Gale (47.02) Cullen Jones (47.65); Jason Lezak (46.06) 3:08.24WR
  • Amaury Leveaux (47.91); Fabien Gilot (47.05); Frédérick Bousquet (46.63); Alain Bernard (46.73) 3:08.32ER
  • Eamon Sullivan (47.24) WR; Andrew Lauterstein (47.87); Ashley Callus (47.55); Matt Targett (47.25) 3:09.91OC
  • Italy, NR; Sweden, NR; Canada – Brent Hayden (47.56) NR – NR; South Africa AF; Great Britain NR

Later in the week, Leveaux set an Olympic record in the prelims of the 50m freestyle, at 21.46 seconds. In the final, he went 21.45 for silver, the title to Cielo in 21.30 (OR, AM), the bronze to 100m champion Bernard (47.21) in 21.49. Then came Rijeka and pioneering pace that remains the standard over 100m freestyle short-course to this day.

By the Rome 2009 Worlds, however, Leveaux had turned his face against the shiny suits. At French nationals that year, he saw some very strange writing on the end wall and scoreboard.

In an interview with L’Equipe‘s team of swim reporters, he said that it was “sickening” to have to “watch people wipe seconds off their best times” in Montpellier. He lambasted the International federation’s handling of the suits crisis, stating: “FINA accepts such people as Alain (Bernard) … it’s nothing personal … he was able to swim a semi-final, set a world record in a suit [Arena X-Glide] that has not been approved”.

Leveaux added:

“You have to ask ‘where will it all end’. It’s a bloody mess. French swimming has evolved, has become one of the strongest nations, and yet it is no longer credible. And when you hear people say ‘You have to wear the Jaked if you want to beat me’, we have gone beyond reality.”

He had spoken to Bernard about the suit and the world record and concluded: “I said to myself: well, we don’t know if the suit will be approved but we do know that breaking that barrier (47) is feasible.” The question remained: how?

Leveaux, out of the solo 100m in Rome, said his own position was far better than that of many others:

“Look at Hugues Duboscq, he is qualified for the world championships, he won two medals at the [Olympic] Games and, here, he finishes fifth in the 200m final. Ahead of him: four Jakeds.”

There was a time when some swimmers would never have believed it possible for them to have made the team for Rome, said Leveaux. “In three days we had 30 on the team for Rome … and all those records … say no more.”

Beyond all of that, Leveaux opted to race in textile briefs, his speed dipped at the start of a return to textile but in 2012 he was back in fine form and leading France to 4x100m free glory.

At the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, he earned a gold medal as a heats swimmer in the 4x100m free, his best days behind him. Come December that year, he announced his retirement at 28 years of age.

In 2018, he announced his return to swimming, with an intention to make the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. His goal: the 50m free crown. Here’s his first vlog of the work he was putting in last September before schedules and calendars were thrown off course by the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic:  

Omertà Sunk, Leveaux Makes His Return

In September 2015, Leveaux and his partner Elizaveta became parents. Announcing the birth, the swimmer said: “This is perhaps the first time in my life that I’m really here.”

There had been a very ‘live’ moment earlier that same year. The year before Ervin published his book, Leveaux brought his own to market: “Sexe, drogue et natation: un nageur bride l’omerta” caused April showers and storms in the French media that season.

“Sex, drugs and swimming: a swimmer breaks the code of silence”, a part-autobiographical work delving into life on Team France with co-author Christopher Quillien, made headlines for various reasons:

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Amaury Leveaux – working for more podiums in the pool – Photo Courtesy: Amaury Leveaux – stills from “Dijon Ville #VLOG01 – Je Prepare les JO de Tokyo 2020”, YouTube

Amaury Leveaux revealed he had taken cocaine and claimed that the substance was present on French swimming teams and ‘snorted’ by a ‘darling of the team’ off the breasts of a press officer at a party. He named no names and told Paris Match:

“This is not a scoop. I told myself that it would be okay. I called Fayard and asked whether they liked it. Obviously, they liked it”.

Sexual decadence was rife, he suggested.

Leveaux also questioned the status of Cielo, who tested positive for a banned substance and was issued with a warning in 2011.

In his book, the French sprinter alludes to a Russian swimmer who trained with him under the guidance of coach Philippe Lucas – a swimmer who “sometimes returned to his country to receive ‘testosterone injections’.”

Russian officials presented the wrong swimmer for out-of-competition anti-doping tests by using ‘doubles’ with passports bearing the name of the real athlete, Leveaux claimed (similar allegations were made in the ARD documentaries into Russian doping in 2014 that were central to the independent inquiry ordered by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The book also contains what the French media have referred to as ‘hurtful’ references to Olympic 100m free champion in 2008, teammate Alain Bernard, and the 2012 Olympic 200m freestyle champion Yannick Agnel.

Asked by Pascal Glo of L’Equipe why he wrote the book, Leveaux replies:

“Since I stopped swimming, many people I meet tell me that I’m not like my public image.”

What image, asks Glo.

“The one the written media gave me. Every athlete has his own image and then plays up to that a little: I played up to my image a bit … but not too much: nonchalant, extravagant, a little rude. In fact. I’m quite the opposite. So I wrote the book to set things straight.”

The title of his book was deliberately provocative, he noted:

“I wanted to show that it is not all rosy and beautiful. I found a catchy title, quite a funny one. The goal is that a lot of people read it. If this book sells three copies, it is useless.”

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Amaury Leveaux, sweat and toil – Photo Courtesy: Amaury Leveaux – stills from “Dijon Ville
#VLOG01 – Je Prepare les JO de Tokyo 2020″, YouTube

One of the lines picked out by the French media from Leveaux’s book is “Cheaters are like pedophiles … put a bullet in their head. I may be an extremist.”

Leveaux criticises the French Swimming Federation: its leaders are “dinosaurs” who are in it for the fine wine and restaurants.

Honorary vice-president of the French swim fed (FFN), Lucien Gastaldello (the grandfather of the Marseilles swimmer Beryl Gastaldello), told local media in response to the book: “Amaury has shot himself in the foot. He was in line for television work (as an expert commentator) but he can forget that now. Who would answer his questions now? The whole world is disgusted with his attitude. ”

The controversy escalated far and wide in the French media. Gastaldello’s comments resulted in a counter argument on RMC Radio, listeners claiming that he hadn’t read the book.

Asked if he thought he had damaged the image of his sport and the French team, Leveaux said:

“We’ll see … when I ended my career, I received messages from Hugues (Duboscq), Alain (Bernard), Clement (Lefert), Fabien (Gilot) and that was it. As for the others … if even one of them has my number it would be extraordinary”.

Now he’s back and aims to make his nation’s Olympic team once more. The French blocks tremble with anticipation of trials, tribulations and triumphs anew.

Back Working With Lionel Horter in Mulhouse

Over a year ago, Amaury Leveaux left the Mulhouse swim club and coach Lionel Horter. He would train at Dijon with Eric Rebourg, his first coach, instead. This past week, Leveaux explained his return to Horter at Mulhouse on the RMC Sport / BFM TV website. It was about being surrounded by others aspiring to big targets and working in an elite environment:

“I think Dijon is a very good training center for young people. But then the system has its limits … Any nation coming to prepare for the Games, looking for a swimming pool or a sports complex, would have the best conditions in the world in Dijon. Except that when you are a sportsman there, a local sportsman, nothing is possible. I’m talking about the very high level.”

Leveaux noted that the weight room was almost always full, while in the pool at Dijon, took him back decades to a time before focus as an elite athlete:

“The swimming pool, every two seconds, you have someone from the public crossing into the water. You arrive, there are people in the line and you get yelled at when you gently ask them to leave the lanes reserved for us. The swimming pool is exceptional, it is a beautiful venue, but it is not one for the high level …”

Leveaux turned back to Horter:

“We spoke with Lionel, the group is different, it has matured … they’ve turned a new page in Mulhouse.”

Horter has told Leveaux to expect “six weeks of war” on the road back to fitness of the fighting kind. Peace with himself lies on the other side of the battle ahead.

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