Alain Bernard

Alain Bernard

Personal information
Full name	Alain Bernard
Nationality	France
Born	1 May 1983 (1983-05-01) 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
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for France Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing 100 m freestyle Silver 2008 Beijing 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2008 Beijing 50 m freestyle World Championships (LC) Silver 2009 Rome 100 m freestyle Silver 2011 Shanghai 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2007 Melbourne 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2009 Rome 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2011 Shanghai 50 m freestyle World Championships (SC) Gold 2010 Dubai 4×100 m freestyle European Championships (LC) Gold 2008 Eindhoven 100 m freestyle Gold 2008 Eindhoven 50 m freestyle Gold 2010 Budapest 100 m freestyle Silver 2010 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2006 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle European Championships (SC) Gold 2004 Vienna 4×50 m freestyle Gold 2008 Rijeka 4×50 m freestyle Gold 2007 Debrecen 100 m freestyle Silver 2005 Trieste 4×50 m freestyle Silver 2006 Helsinki 4×50 m freestyle Silver 2007 Debrecen 4×50 m freestyle Bronze 2006 Helsinki 100 m freestyle Bronze 2007 Debrecen 50 m freestyle Summer Universiade Gold 2005 Izmir 4×100 m freestyle Mediterranean Games Gold 2005 Almería 4×100 m freestyle

Alain Bernard (French pronunciation: [alɛ̃ bɛʁnaʁ]; born 1 May 1983) is a 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.

2008 Olympics

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. 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.

Personal bests

Personal bests

Event	Long course	Short course
50 m freestyle	21.23	21.59
100 m freestyle	46.94	45.69
200 m freestyle	1:47.81	1:46.43

Service in the French Gendarmerie

Alain Bernard has been a volunteer in the Gendarmerie since 2008 and is currently attached to the Groupement blindé de gendarmerie mobile based in Versailles-Satory in the Yvelines department.

See also

• World record progression 100 metres freestyle

External links

• 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