Federica Pellegrini is tracking almost as high as Angelina Jolie in Google searches in Italy!

Since the 2009 FINA World Championships, Federica Pellegrini, is tracking almost as high as Angelina Jolie in Google searches in most Italian regions. In some cities, such as Naples, she is tracking equal or higher. Jennifer Aniston can't touch either of them. [Google trends is my source]

The First photo is Federica Pellegrini at the Venice Film Festival with her friend Luca Marin.

Photo source: M&C.com: [Link]

In the next photo and to the left is the current Italian President, Silvio Berlusconi, making an ass of himself overly "eyeballing" Federica Pellegrini as he greeted her at a gathering of "young supporters in Rome." The guy is actually well liked in Italy despite scandal and a challenged economy.

I swear, I think 80% of politics is making up a good story.

From Metro.co.uk:

Silvio Berlusconi just can't help himself, can he? Most politicians mired in a sex scandal might keep a low profile and not give the enemy any further ammunition. But not the Italian prime minister, who is never far away from trouble when it comes to women.

[Link]

These two photos presented certainly demonstrate how much power and prestige swimming has in the Italian universe. The French and the Australians are treated in this fashion as well. I suggest American pros spend more time racing where they are appreciated and learning the languages where they are admired as well.

Imagine, Jason Lezak, trash talking Alain Bernard, Amauary Leveaux, Frederick Bousquet, and Fabien Gilot in French and challenging them to a pay-for-view meet with all the strokes on neutral ground at the Montreal Olympic Pool in French Canada? The French would be all over it like an Italian President on a "party goer!"

I could dip my keyboard in poison and be Lezak's writer; of course Maly would have to help me translate and obviously I would not mean any of it...

I kid you not. This is the stuff American swimming needs.

Laure Manaudou may be done with swimming - She may vacation in the United States with friends as well

I once saw an actor named Ed O'Neil interviewed by Whoopi Goldberg in the early 1990's. During the interview she asked O'Neil if success had changed him in any way. He replied that since success came late in life during his early 40's it had no real effect upon him. By then his personality was already carved in stone so to speak and he accumulated enough life experiences to keep it all in perspective.

He did mention that if he was in his early 20's he would have believed all the hype and empty accolades and consequently he would have handled it very, very, badly.

When Laure Manadou won a gold medal in the 400-free in Athens 2004, she was was the first French female swimmer to do so in over 40-years. Laure Manaudou was just 18-years-old at the time and she still had more to accomplish.

Two years later in 2006 she was the first swimmer to tackle Janet Evans's 400-meter free world record swimming a time of 4:03.03 at a French meet.

By 2007, she broke the 200-meter free world record at the World Championships in Sydney, won the 400-free there too, garnered a silver in the 100-meter back, and almost won the 800 until being passed by a determined Kate Ziegler on the last lap.

After 2007 there were no stellar swim accomplishments for Manaudou. Perhaps because her personal life was plastered all over the tabloid press and her naked body all over the internet. (Her jilted boyfriend, Luca Marin, denied having anything to do with this and that it was simply a coincidence that the day they broke up her nude pictures suddenly appeared! No, really!) With all this said, I am sure this violation of her privacy, both physical and sexual, has probably distracted her as a young adult.

If this sounds like an obituary, I don't mean it to be. I have a feeling that Manaudou is done with swimming, done with being famous, done with losing races and being tabloid fodder. This is what Associated Press had to say:

The 22-year-old became a national heroine at the 2004 Athens Olympics when she took gold in the 400 metres freestyle - the first ever for her country for a woman. She also won silver in the 800 metres freestyle and bronze in the 100 metres backstroke.

Despite going on to set several world records, Manaudou struggled to stay on top as problems with her long-time coach and an ugly breakup with her Italian swimmer boyfriend saw her picture splashed over the gossip magazines.

She attempted to bounce back at the Beijing Olympics but failed miserably and fled the pool in tears.

[Link]

Manaudou soap opera continues: "Manaudou Wants Marin's Baby"

Now it's getting multinational in that Italy can't or won't train her unless... Snippet from Swim News:

• Marin's coach and Italian head coach Alberto Castagnetti, one of the world's leading swim mentors for many years, has already ruled out adding Manaudou to his charges and has called on common sense to prevail. "Our federation categorically wants to avoid any problems with the French federation and I am totally in agreement with that," he said. "If on the other hand Manaudou takes Italian nationality, that would be different." [Link]
  

Remember that Manadou is the French swimmer that broke Janet Evans' 400m record so she is considered a French national asset.

This "soap opera" is like Romeo and Juliet, The Hatfields' and the McCoys', and Tristan and Isolde all within a lane line.

Manuadou drops coach, moves to Italy! Coach is pissed, insults her integrity in public

Laure Manaudou, perhaps the greatest female distance swimmer of all time if she can beat Ziegler, is in love with an Italian swimmer named Luca Marin. So much so that she has split with her coach and moved to Italy to be with him. That's Manaudou to thge right wearing her boyfriends Italian cap during the European Short Course Meters Championships. (She is French and sponsored by TYR whereas her boyfriend is sponsored by Arena. Needless to say there was some dram when she raced with it) From Eurosport:

• The 21-year-old, who won two golds, two silvers and a bronze at the World Championships in Melbourne last month as well as being named the outstanding female swimmer of the championships, is expected to make a statement about her future on Tuesday. [Link]

Swim News qoutes coach and swimmer:

• "She said goodbye to me," said Manaudou's friend and teammate Esther Baron. How long will that friendship last, one wonders: if Manaudou decides, the legendary best of Egerszegi will come under threat over 200m backstroke, let alone the high standard achieved by Baron, European champion for France last year. Assuming, of course, that Manaudou's march to the pantheon continues without Lucas.

• Lucas is reported to have said to Manaudou: "She has no head for swimming because of her personal problems". [Ass! You don't say that in public!- Tony] Link

Shakespeare's take on Manaudou: " Love goes toward love."

George Bernard Shaw's take on Manaudou: "Youth is wasted on the young."