Laura does not like being called “Mademoiselle Butterfly” - a stamp born on a butterfly’s tattoo on the girl’s right shoulder. For her, butterfly stroke is, first of all, the most unloved swimming style. The main specialization of Manodu is the free-style styer distances, here no one can catch her for three years now. During this time, Laura completely overshadowed her glamorous, but not good-for-nothing German predecessor Francisco van Almsik as the brightest person in European swimming. On the eve of the continental championship in short water, where Manod again threatens to update all records, PROport turned over the calendar of the main dates in the career of the ingenious 20-year-old Frenchwoman
Autumn. Start
There is an important day in Laura’s life - October 9th. By coincidence, this is both the birthday of her older brother Nicolas, her current boyfriend, Luca Marina, and her own. Place of birth - the basketball suburb of Lyon Villeurbanne - and the hobby of the father-banker (handball) opened Manoda a direct path to team sports. But at the age of five she proved herself an individualist, choosing swimming. And when Laura was fourteen, she was invited to train in an experimental group of swimmers 500 kilometers from home.
Leaving Villeurbanne, she wanted to do some piercing as a keepsake. With great difficulty, her mother persuaded her to confine herself to a tattoo. So a butterfly fluttered on Laura’s shoulder, which later became her symbol. At least, Laura herself loves to talk about how she went through all the stages of transformation from a provincial booger to the beauty and pride of French swimming: “This was my first tattoo. I wanted to depict just a butterfly for its beauty, lightness, bright colors. The image of a butterfly tells about my story. The caterpillar overcomes four steps before becoming a butterfly, and I had the same thing. At first I left my family at age 14 to meet my trainer in Melon. The second stage was the World Cup in Barcelona in 2003. Everything happened so quickly that I did not even have time to understand and win anything. And then there was the 2004 Olympics, three medals, a new status and everything that followed. And the world championship in Montreal, where I confirmed it. I was an ordinary swimmer when I appeared in Melone. Three years later, I became one of the most beloved athletes in France ... "
Impressed swimwear manufacturers who dedicated one of their collections to Laura turned Lepidoptera into their trademark.
Spring. Breakthrough
Laura is afraid to swim in the sea: "When I do not see the bottom, I feel uneasy." In the five years she had spent in training and competitions without any relief, she acquired a rich bouquet of injuries, phobias and complexes. And the world fame, to which she changed her health, came to Manod as if reluctantly. Even when, at 17, Laura received a gold medal at the Athens Olympics, few took her seriously. There were too many girls and boys in swimming who won something and then disappeared. But Manodu did not disappear. She won the 2005 World Cup; in the poll of the Paris Institute of Public Opinion “France's Most Recognized Athlete” she lost only to Zidane and Henri. And on May 12, 2006 it became great - it broke Janet Evans, who seemed to be an eternal record, by 400 meters with a crawl, which lasted 18 years. Manodu sailed the most prestigious flight distance in 4 minutes and 3.03 seconds, surpassing the record by 82 hundredths. And two months later she improved it again. Perhaps she will become the first woman in the world to exchange a 4-minute line at 400 meters. Her fans have already composed a song in which they compare Laura with a motor boat, assure her that she "swims faster than Tarzan" and is able to "row even with her teeth." At the same time, transcendental seconds at absolutely all competitions in which the Frenchwoman goes to the start are part of her strategy. “My goal is to get courage off rivals before they even end up in the pool,” Manodu explains. “I am not obsessed with records, but I want everyone to know in advance: it is impossible to defeat me.”
Winter. Scandal
She has a bright French appearance: Manodu's face is similar to the Princess of Monaco Stephanie in her youth, and with a powerful physique - like tennis player Amelie Moresmo. But her character is more likely in the Dutch-German ancestors on the maternal side. For five years of training, she never got out of her crazy rhythm - two classes in the pool from Monday to Friday, one lesson on Saturday, plus daily physical training in the gym. Always collected and impenetrable, Laura gave vent to her emotions only once, burst into tears on the podium after winning the 2005 World Cup.
That year was the hardest in her career. Due to a mental breakdown and a conflict with the federation, she risked ending up swimming altogether. It all started with nonsense - in December 2004, Claude Focke, technical director of the federation and columnist of Figaro, was all but skeptical about Manodu’s record at a distance of 1,500 meters. This was the first enthusiastic statement about Laura in the French press after Athens. The girl was absolutely not ready for criticism: she demanded the immediate dismissal of her offender, threatening to boycott the national team and go under Dutch banners. The Federation was outraged, accusing the swimmer of star fever: after Athens, many honors fell on Laura in France - her name was given to the pool in Melon, the president handed her the Legion of Honor ... And Manoda missed the European Championship, restoring her peace of mind only after a few months.
Summer. Future
For some reason, the press trio of the French women's team is called in the Russian style - troika. In addition to Laura, it includes the dark-skinned Guiana, Malia Metelia and Elena Popchenko, who, after Athens, changed their Belarusian citizenship to French. At the European Championships in Budapest, this same troika has already distinguished itself by painting its nails in the colors of the French flag. But these girls can change not only their image, but also the balance of power in world swimming: in the summer of 2008, France will go to Beijing as a superpower capable of competing with both Americans and Australians, not to mention the starless Russian team.
In any conversation about records Manodu invariably arises the figure of her brutal trainer Philip Luke. The appearance of this long-haired unshaven man with huge biceps and an eternally stretched T-shirt is described by French newspapers as the image of a Marseille loader. But such an image did not prevent him from persuading Laura's parents to agree to her move to his training center in Melon. “I immediately noticed her huge ambitions and a bright head,” recalls Philip. - After all, if your ward is stupid, she will never win anything. The psychological factor is key in swimming, and Laura is a phenomenal athlete. She is only interested in victory. ”
Luke’s working methods are very controversial in France. They say that Philip showed unprecedented cruelty for European sports, stealing Manod’s childhood and forcing him to swim 17 kilometers daily. They say he turned the girl into a car for making money. But today Manodu is one of the most successful athletes in the world. Sponsors stand in line for her, and her annual income is estimated at about a million euros - a record for women's swimming. “I spend most of my life in the pool or relaxing after class,” says Laura. - If this did not bring results, such a rhythm would have broken me long ago. But swimming gives me everything that I strive for in this life, so I see no reason to stop. "
Laura won 42 gold medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships, Europe and France in three years.
59 hundredths of an average Laura needs in order to overcome 1 meter of distance in a short pool.
2010 will be the last year in Laura’s swimming career. She would like to speak at the 2012 Olympics in London, but is determined to give birth to her first child under 25 years old .
A pair of beach slippers from the Collection textile de Laure costs 19 euros. The company that created their design offers three color options for slippers - blue, orange and red.
Oleg SHAMONAEV