Alain Bernard
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 (Video of the Race can be found here),[1] 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.[2]
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.[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
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 to avoid a repeat of the 2008 fiasco. France won the event which made Bernard a two-time Olympic gold medalist.[6]
Personal bests
| 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
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
References
- ^ Rights belong to NBC
- ^ "Sullivan smashes 50 m world record". ABC. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2008.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.mlive.com/olympics/index.ssf/2008/08/lezak_overhauls_french_to_win.html.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://asia.eurosport.com/swimming/bernard-fails-to-qualify_sto3206190/story.shtml.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://asia.eurosport.com/swimming/manaudou-qualifies-again_sto3208959/story.shtml.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://www.thereporter.com/sports/ci_21190096/french-get-revenge-2008-relay-loss-us.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ PR49 – FINA APPROVAL OF WORLD RECORDS. Fina.org. Retrieved on 9 August 2012.
External links
- swimrankings.net Bernard, Alain – Swim Rankings by GeoLogix AG, Switzerland.
- Template:Fr icon Fiche de Bernard, Website of the sports daily L'Équipe.
- "Alain Bernard", n°29 on Time’s list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"
| 100 yards |
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|---|---|
| 100 metres |
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| Intercalated Games | |
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- Use dmy dates from August 2012
- 1983 births
- Living people
- People from Aubagne
- French swimmers
- Male freestyle swimmers
- Former world record holders in swimming
- Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- Olympic swimmers of France
- Olympic gold medalists for France
- Olympic silver medalists for France
- Olympic bronze medalists for France
- Olympic medalists in swimming
- Swimming World European Swimmers of the Year
- World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming