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Agnel Past Lochte Peak In 1:44.42
Mar 20, 2012 - Craig Lord
French Olympic Trials, Dunkirk, Day 2 finals (updated with quotes):
Yannick Agnel, of Nice in France, set a French record of 1:44.42 at Olympic trials in Dunkirk this evening, the time the third best ever by a swimmer in textile suit, 0.02sec inside the mark in which Ryan Lochte (USA) claimed then world crown in Shanghai last year.
In other events, joint world champion Camille Lacourt shot to the helm of the 2012 world rankings in 52.75 in the 100m backstroke but the man who shared gold with him in Shanghai last summer, Jérémy Stravius, was beaten out of Olympic contention by Benjamin Strasiulis, 53.98 to 54.04. Lacourt won it on the way out, in 25.77, and sealed it on the way home, on 26.88.
The night belonged to Agnel. Only Michael Phelps, 2008 Olympic champion, and Ian Thorpe, 2004 Olympic champion, have ever swum faster without the aid of non-textile buoys. Agnel had held the French record at 1:44.99 since Shanghai world titles last year.
The splits:
In a week that saw Ian Thorpe bow out of London 2012 on the comeback trail, the thunder of his last lap first time round speaks volumes about the nature of success and the work of coach Doug Frost in developing one of the all-time greats of freestyle.
The silver and second Olympic berth went to Amaury Leveaux, of Paris Racing, in 1:46.72, with Grégory Mallet, of Marseilles, on 1:46.77 and Agnel's training partner at Nice Olympic Clément Lefert on 1:46.90. What a relay.
With a nod to the French record of training partner Camille Muffat in the 200m, Agnel told reporters: "It wasn't easy but Camille put the pressure on for me to get moving!" He added: "It's a relief to have the [Olympic] ticket in my hand. I can now have a long run into battle.
An eye on the times Agnel and Muffat managed, Pellerin indicated that they were mere stepping stones: "They knew the time that I had in mind … It'll be something else this summer."
The sub-1:45 textile club:
Olympic Season Takes Shape - 2012 top 5 (two per nation):
Coached by Fabrice Pellerin at Nice Olympic on a beautiful stretch of the Mediterranean coastline west of Monte Carlo, Agnel claimed the European crown ahead of 2009 world champion Paul Biedermann (GER) in Budapest in 2010. He has stepped up a gear since then.
Agnel's top 5:
Pellerin's steady development of Agnel and Camille Muffat, who took down another Laure Manaudou standard in the 200m free semis today with a 1:55.40 effort, is reaping rewards just at the right time.
This winter past, there was an odd go-slow appearance by the group at the world cup in Berlin before a training and race tour of the United States.
Pellerin believed that both Agnel and Muffat would benefit from greater exposure beyond familiar European waters. On the strength of the past 24 hours, in which Muffat clocked the best-ever 400m freestyle in a textile suit, on 4:01.13, and Agnel…
the plan would seem to be paying dividends. Part of the Pellerin mix is holistic in nature. He kitted out his squad with waterproof mp3 players loaded with the sounds of Hans Zimmer's Dark Knight (Batman), Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Love the Way You Lie with Eminem and Rihanna, the Beatles and Mozart.
"There is no theme that better echoes sport than music," Pellerin said. "If I did not see any link between the two, I would not do it. The quick or slow movements of a symphony can correspond to a race construction with management, accelerations. I want to introduce them [the swimmers] to the musical states of mind that will allow them to maintain a rhythm or to change it if the race demands."
On a tour of the US, Pellerin talked L'Equipe reporter Pascal Glo through a quarter of an hour of Agnel's training. The European 400m free champion worked to the pace of the Dark Knight. "The piece climbs progressively in volume and a rhythm sets in, repetitive. The two arms ahead working in tune to the uniform beating [kicking] of his legs. Three chords of cello violoncello [the cello] appear then disappear by the time he has taken three arm strokes."
On Muffat, he told the paper: "Camille now swims better than before when I simply said 'do one 25m faster'. She is more streamlined because she is following the music and knew that one note follows another. Beyond that, she is more relaxed."
Agnel, his mp3 loaded with his own wide-ranging choices - Beatles, Black Desire, Mozart, Polnareff, Superimposers, Nine Inch Nales and Breakbo - said: "I'm not very good at finding the rhythm of my swimming - but I think this will help me."
Pellerin says he has seen children with a musical education take to swimming more quickly than others. Music now features in three out of 12 sessions for his group. Heavy Metal is part of the mix too, with Vivaldi played by the likes of French guitarist Patrick Rondat or Ulrich Roth of the Scorpions.
