Laure Manaudou - Internet Star Swimmer Beats Her Own World Record At French Short Course Nationals

Remember Laure Manaudou, who famously quit this year's Summer Olympics because of the stress of making a comeback after the tripple story of the breakup with Luca Martin, her boyfriend who may have posted nude photos of her on the Internet, then the appearance of Martin at the Olympics with Italian swimming star Frederica Pellegrini, and the added need to break the World records she set in 2006, has broke her record in the women's 50 backstroke at the French Short Course Nationals, posting a time of 27:30, which just shaved her previous time of 27:46, a meet record set in 2006.

This is a sort of comeback for Manaudou, as her Olympic trip was a total disaster. Here's my video explaining what happened:

Laure Manaudou v. Federica Pellegrini In Olympics (Nude?) Love Triangle Showdown

CLICK TO SEE VIDEO HERE

Female French Swimmer Laure Manaudou has had a hard go of it of late. Just on top of the swimming World two years ago and in love with Italian Swimmer Male Luca Martin, Laure Manaudou saw her life change rapidly.

After breaking up with Luca Martin, tossing the ring he gave her into the pool, nude photos of her surface on The Internet, embarrasing her in the process.



Fast Forward to Beijing. Luca Martin has taken up with another female swimmer, Federica Pellegrini. Beautiful, athletic, and stunning, Federica Pellegrini has Laure Manaudou's ex-boyfriend and her ex-coach.

Then on Sunday, Laure Manaudou suffers a total performance collapse, coming in last in the 400m Freestyle race. Then, to add insult to injury, Laure Manaudou's 2007 200m Freestyle record is broken by none other than Federica Pellegrini, who also turned her back on Laure on Sunday.

The only way Laure can prevail and salvage a wrecked career is to beat Federica Pellegrini in the finals on Wednesday.

I'm rooting for Laure Manaudou, as she's been through far too much and is too talented for the treatment she's gotten.

What's fascinating about this is the level of attention female swimmers are given in Europe; much more than in the United States. Swimmers like Laure and Federica appear on talk shows and in the front page of magazines, and are chased by photographers.