PARIS, France, August 6. ACCORDING to a report in L'Equipe, the daily French sports newspaper, Laure Manaudou has been booted from her new club in Italy. The Frenchwoman, training with LaPresse Nuoto since parting ways with her coach Philippe Lucas, moved to Italy to be closer to her boyfriend, Luca Marin, the bronze medalist at the World Championships in the 400 individual medley.
Manaudou, who holds the world record in the 200 and 400 freestyle, joined the Italian club three months ago, but from the start there were questions as to whether the change in scenery would work out. Not only was she moving away from Lucas, who turned her into a star, but Manaudou also had the distractions of being close to Marin.
"If Laure wants to work hard I can help her do great things but if she's not ready to work hard, I'm not the right coach," said Paolo Penso, the head of the Italian club.