2012 50 freestyle Olympic champion Frenchman Florent Manaudou qualified for the semi-finals in the 50 freestyle with the fourth fastest time of 21.72. Andrii Govorov of the Ukraine was the fastest qualifier posting a time of 21.49 followed by Americans Nathan Adrian (21.51) and Anthony Ervin (21.52).
This was Manaudou’s first individual event in Rio and he has not swum since the French men won silver in 4 x 100 freestyle relay on Sunday evening. After putting up the third fastest split of any competitor in the relay he feels that the time off between swims has been good for both his physical recovery and mental focus, “It’s all right because then I have time to watch the races and time to rest,” said Manaudou. “Then I receive the motivation I need for the next competition.”
“Sometimes, for me, it is very important to be out of what is happening between the competitions because it means that I can be really focused on my job. I don’t want to be aware of what is happening in general. I just want to work with my team and do a good job and I think I am doing a good job.”
Something else that may be keeping the Frenchman calm and confident is how he has swum the prelims in the past. At the 2012 Olympics he recorded a time of 22.09 in the prelims finishing seventh and went on to win the event in a time of 21.34. At the 2015 World Championships in Kazan he had the fastest time in prelims of 21.71 and went on to win the event in a time of 21.19.
After the race Manaudou was once again focused on what he needed to do and not his competition, “It’s very good because when I leave the (heats) here, I can just go straight to the warm-up pool and start to train again.”
Who benefits from that tongue stud, I wonder?
Go Flo !!