Knappe Niederlage gegen den Spitzenreiter
10. März 2015Brauhausberg erweist sich als Tollhaus in den Finalspielen
11. März 2015LEN mourns French great, Camille Muffat
LEN learnt with immense sadness the tragic death of Camille Muffat, one of the greatest French swimmers in recent past. She lost her life during a helicopter accident in Argentina. Camille Muffat was 25.
Camille delivered her most memorable performances in 2012 when she became Olympic champion in the 400m freestyle, won silver in the 200m free and bronze in the 4x200m free relay, equalling the best showing of a French female swimmer (Laure Manaudou in 2004) in a single edition of the Games. Later in that year she was the shiniest star of the LEN European Short-Course Swimming Championships: in front of her home-crowd in Chartres, she clinched three gold medals and set a new World record in the 400m free, just weeks after she bettered the global mark of the 800m.
Her tally included four long-course World Championships bronze medals, a short-course world title, a European silver and bronze medal and altogether seven podium finishes at the short-course continental showcases.
Last year she opted to retire after the long years devoted to hard work. According to her coach, Fabrice Pellerin, Camille was a perfectionist and didn’t know the word impossible if the targeted times required unbelievable efforts in the training pool. This approach brought its fantastic results, especially at the Olympic Games in London.
Camille called her decision on retirement a ‘choice of maturity’. She wished to spend more time with her new husband and build a new life – a desire now remaining unfulfilled forever…
“Today we lost an outstanding athlete, a true icon” LEN President Paolo Barelli said. “Camille Muffat was a magnificent swimmer, a perfect role model not only for the young French swimmers but for all young athletes around Europe and the world. On behalf of LEN let me express our deepest condolences to Camille’s family and to the French aquatic community.”