Alain Bernard
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alain Bernard |
| Nationality |  France |
| Born | 1 May 1983 Aubagne, France |
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 90 kg (200 lb; 14 st) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Stroke(s) | Freestyle |
| Club | CN Antibes |
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Medal record
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Alain Bernard (French pronunciation: [alɛ̃ bɛʁnaʁ]; born 1 May 1983) is a former French swimmer from Aubagne, Bouches-du-Rhône. Bernard won three medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics. After competing on the silver medal-winning French 4×100 m relay team, Bernard won the gold medal in the men's 100 m freestyle event.
He held the same 100 m freestyle world record after winning the European LC Championships 2008 final in a time of 47.50 seconds on 22 March 2008. He had already beaten the world record the previous day, finishing in 47.60 seconds in the semi-finals. On 23 March Bernard lowered the 50 m freestyle world record to a time of 21.50 but only held the record for four days before being bettered by Australian Eamon Sullivan.[1]
On 1 January 2013, Bernard was made an Officer (Officier) of the French National Order of Merit.[2]
Contents |
2008 Olympics [edit]
At the French Championships, Bernard qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing in the 50 m freestyle (with a time of 21.69 s) and 100 m freestyle (47.82 s).
Before the relay, Bernard taunted the American swim team. He and the rest of his French team ended up in second place behind the American team by .08 seconds. Bernard, who was given a lead going into the anchor leg of slightly less than a bodylength, was caught in the final strokes by Jason Lezak, whose anchor leg of 46.06 seconds was the fastest relay leg in history.
The close defeat left Bernard "wounded," according to his coach.[3] However, he rebounded to win the gold medal in the men's 100 metre freestyle final, in which Lezak tied for the bronze. Bernard became only the second Frenchman to win a gold medal in swimming, after Jean Boiteux, who won the 400 m freestyle at the 1952 Helsinki Games. He also finished third in the 50 m freestyle final behind César Cielo Filho of Brazil and Amaury Leveaux of France, making it the first time in Olympic history that France had produced two medallists in a swimming final.
He has a shark tattoo on his right hip.
2012 Olympics [edit]
Bernard failed to qualify for the 50 m freestyle and 100 m freestyle events of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London by finishing only fifth in both events during the French swimming championships in March 2012.[4][5] He was in the France 4 x 100 m freestyle relay at the Olympics in the heats, but was not included in the team for the final. France won the event which made Bernard a two-time Olympic gold medalist.[6]
Personal bests [edit]
| Event | Long course | Short course |
|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 21.23 | 20.64 |
| 100 m freestyle | 46.94 | 45.69 |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:47.81 | 1:46.43 |
The 100m long course time (46.94) was not admissible as a world record because it was swum in a non-approved swimsuit.[7]
Service in the French Gendarmerie [edit]
Alain Bernard has been a volunteer in the Gendarmerie since 2008 and was until recently attached to the Groupement blindé de gendarmerie mobile based in Versailles-Satory in the Yvelines department.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Sullivan smashes 50 m world record". ABC. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
- ^ Légion d'Honneur: Aschieri, Muffat et Agnel dans la promo du 1er janvier - nicematin.com
- ^ http://www.mlive.com/olympics/index.ssf/2008/08/lezak_overhauls_french_to_win.html. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ http://asia.eurosport.com/swimming/bernard-fails-to-qualify_sto3206190/story.shtml. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ http://asia.eurosport.com/swimming/manaudou-qualifies-again_sto3208959/story.shtml. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ http://www.thereporter.com/sports/ci_21190096/french-get-revenge-2008-relay-loss-us. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ PR49 – FINA APPROVAL OF WORLD RECORDS. Fina.org. Retrieved on 9 August 2012.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alain Bernard |
- swimrankings.net Bernard, Alain – Swim Rankings by GeoLogix AG, Switzerland.
- (French) Fiche de Bernard, Website of the sports daily L'Équipe.
- "Alain Bernard", n°29 on Time’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Eamon Sullivan |
Men's 50 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 23 March 2008 – 27 March 2008 |
Succeeded by Eamon Sullivan |
Preceded by Pieter van den Hoogenband Eamon Sullivan Eamon Sullivan |
Men's 100 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 21 March 2008 – 11 August 2008 13 August 2008 23 April 2009 – 22 June 2009 (record annulled) |
Succeeded by Eamon Sullivan Eamon Sullivan Eamon Sullivan |
Preceded by Stefan Nystrand |
Men's 100 metres freestyle world record holder (short course) 7 December 2008 – 12 December 2008 |
Succeeded by Amaury Leveaux |
| Awards | ||
Preceded by Mateusz Sawrymowicz |
European Swimmer of the Year 2008 |
Succeeded by Paul Biedermann |
| Preceded by Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena |
French Sportperson of the Year 2008 |
Succeeded by Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena |
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- 1983 births
- Former world record holders in swimming
- French swimmers
- Male freestyle swimmers
- Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m)
- Living people
- Officiers of the Ordre national du Mérite
- Olympic swimmers of France
- Olympic gold medalists for France
- Olympic silver medalists for France
- Olympic bronze medalists for France
- Olympic medalists in swimming
- People from Aubagne
- Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
- European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
- Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
