Yesterday, we reported our excitement about Russian swimmer Danila Izotov heading to Nice, France to train with French-swimming golden boy Yannick Agnel. Now, we’ve got an even more exciting move to share about the French squad.
The famed team from Marseilles, France will be headed stateside to spend nearly the entire month of February training with the Davie Nadadores in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, according to the blog of the Nadadores’ head coach Alex Pussieldi.
The French swimmers who will be coming to town include superstars like seven-time European Champion Fred Bousquet, his girlfriend and Olympic gold medalist Laure Manaudou, Olympic gold medalist Inge Dekker of the Dutch team, and Camille Lacourt, who is the best sprint backstroker in the world at the moment.
Not being able to pass up the opportunity, SwimMAC Carolina head coach David Marsh will swing down the coastline with part of his elite crew, including defending NCAA 50-free champ Josh Schneider, World Record-holder Nick Thoman, and Davis Tarwater.
Other swimmers who will be participating in this international super camp are Nadadores team members Alex Di Giorgio, Venezuelan Olympian Ricardo Monasterio, and Brazilian Pan-Pac finalist Felipe Lima; two-time Olympian Bradley Ally from the Barbados; and French sprint A-relay member Fabien Gilot.
There has been no official word yet about a post-camp meet, but it will presumably culminate in the teams participating in a high-level meets. The Indianapolis Grand Prix meet from February 18-21 and the Columbia stop from March 3-5 are very good candidates. Davie is also hosting a lower-level meet during the French team’s final weekend there, and they may participate in that instead.
Brazilian correspondent Caio Leal contributed to this report. Read his Portugese-language swimming site at http://simplesmenteesporte.wordpress.com/
