Swimming is amazing, it's euphoric, it's like jumping into a warm, blissful, zero-gravity, HELLO! Yet pro-swimmers, when they retire, such as Thorpe, Popov, and now Laure Manaudou do not only feel an intense sensation of relief as they leave the sport, they flee from the pool as if it were the French Bastille during the French Revolution.With that in mind, this all says to me that both fame and garbage yardage are the culprits!
From Associated Press:
"I quit. This hasn't been an easy decision to take," the Frenchwoman told Friday's edition of Le Parisien newspaper. "It came to me little by little. I didn't make it on impulse."
"I've got all the titles," Manaudou added. "I had everything I wanted, even more than in my dreams... I have all the time to think about my future."
Manaudou, who gave France its first swimming gold since Jean Boiteux in 1952 when she won the 400-metre freestyle at the Athens Olympics in 2004, said she lost her motivation after splitting with the coach behind her successes, Philippe Lucas.
"She made the right choice by deciding to stop," Lucas told the Le Point magazine website. "At last, she is going to enjoy some peace of mind."
[Link]
Reactions:
Roxana Maracineanu
Babelfish translation: "... former world champion of swimming: “It was the best swimmer of all times. And not only French. But [she] did not go [to the] end of [her] talent. [She] was Michael Phelps... the female one.
Christian Donzé " ...Techinical officer French Federation: With such a talent, I was convinced that [she] could go back in [the] saddle for 2012.
Amuary Leveaux: "... I think that [she] could have made [another] Olympiad... Now, it is [her] choice to stop and [she] should be respected”.
[Link]
Photo credit: sagicel's photostream at Flickr.com
9 comments:
one interessting quote from laure in this intervieu :" i regrette quiting school at 14 to focus only on swimming : apart from swimming i had nothing else to fcus on. when i was with people who were not from the swimming world, i realize i couldn't talk to them because i knew nothing , this didn't help me with my shyness. stick to school , it helps you to balance things in life. "
she also says that she started to feel the burn out in 2007 and that she manage to stick out until 2008 to not disapoint people.
all the french media are also reporting that she is expecting a baby with fred bousquet. this hasn't been confirmed by laure or fred.
This is quite a quote! It says to me that one should strive to be great at many things rather than one.
Any new swimmers thinking of turning pro should follow her advice
after reading laure interview , i think it is smart that alain bernard coach is letting him some time to learn how to pilot helicopter so he won't feel the burn out until 1012.
Fame definitely did Manaudou in. That and her decision to switch coaches to stay with her boyfriend at the time, not to mention her showing at Beijing. That had to have been a real blow to her enthusiasm. But I disagree about 'garbage yardage' being the cause. I can't believe any elite coach today doesn't understand and avoid asking for what would constitute excessive yardage. The fact is training at this level is exceptionally hard work (Bill Sweetenham says the best indicator by far about a young teenager's potential can be gained by studying his or her ability to recover). Sweat and tears which can be justified if success comes as a result, but a huge disincentive if unlikely. As a former Olympic Champion and world record holder that would be nothing less than keeping those crowns - something I'd say wasn't in the cards. Besides which Manaudou to retire at her age isn't unusual at all. Ian Thorpe, remember, retired at 25 which is about the same age when sex is taken into account. And, I might add, for very similar reasons.
Just as Phelps, Coughlin, etc. took a few months off after Beijing for the same reason. Admittedly Coughlin got married at the same time - does that count as an excuse?
Coughlin loves swimming and she cross trains with open water and takes time off frequently. She also has denounced garbage yardage in her book Golden Girl.
Granted but it was ruining Katie Hoff career. Natalie Coughlin has spoken lengths about it, and Thorpe reentered the pool only after a crew of people tried to push him back into the ocean when he was sunning himself at the beach.
"Natalie Coughlin has spoken lengths about it" ... ooooh clever, was it intentional? Not that I disagree with you that there's plenty of 'garbage yardage' being swum out there, just that I'd be deeply disappointed if it was part of an elite coach's repertoire. Katie Hoff may be in a different situation as I think her recent problems stem from trying to train alongside Phelps, someone whose recovery ability will someday be seen as legendary. Nothing burns an athlete out faster than failing miserably in workouts while watching others seemingly 'breeze' through them.
I was thinking about this the other day when reading Garrett Weber-Gale's blog. Part of what makes that blog captivating is to see how Garrett is crafting a life for himself beyond swimming, doing other things he loves to do and is interested in, and how he uses these other interests to heal disappointment and fatigue.
Post a Comment