Manaudou's problem psychological: coach

DUNKIRK, France (Reuters) - Olympic champion Laure Manaudou will be competitive at the Beijing Games if she overcomes the psychological problems revealed at the French swimming championships, coach Lionel Horter said on Thursday.

"At 20, Laure is still a child who became a star and an unsettled young woman. She is maturing but her status and her life are overwhelming her," he told Reuters in an interview.

"We'll have to manage all these problems and the only way to do it is through dialogue," Horter said.

Doubts were cast over Manaudou's Olympic future when she burst into tears following her first defeat at a major championships in nearly four years in the 400 meters freestyle at the French championships in Dunkirk on Monday.

Although she secured an Olympic berth with third place, her time of four minutes 6.67 seconds was well outside the world record of 4:02.13 she held until last month when Federica Pellegrini of Italy clocked 4:01.53 at the European championships in Eindhoven.

The next day the French swimmer, also the world 400 meters champion, pulled out of the 200 meters freestyle, forsaking her chance to compete in an event in which she is the world record holder.

These mishaps were the climax to a blank year since Manaudou caused a rumpus in France when she parted company with Philippe Lucas, who had been more than a coach to her for six years.

She joined the LaPresse Nuoto Club in Turin, saying she wanted a new challenge and wished to be nearer her then boyfriend, swimmer Luca Marin.

The Italian club fired her three months later, citing attitude problems and Manaudou later broke up with Marin.

She then started to train at her local club, Amberieu-en-Bugey under her older brother's guidance. The experience was short-lived and she left for Mulhouse, a bigger club, and a more experienced coach in Horter.

"MORE PLEASURE"

In the meantime, she appeared more often on the front page of glossy magazines that sports newspapers as nude photos of her were published on the internet and she started a new romance with a French swimmer.

Manaudou's coach clearly believes all these events were bound to take their toll.

He discards the arguments of Manaudou who said she withdrew from the 200 meters because she takes "more pleasure in swimming backstroke than freestyle".

"One thing is for sure, she is not used to having difficult races at national level. It's largely psychological and not only during the races. The problem is also in her behavior before the races," he said.

Manaudou also complained her sponsor was still to deliver to her the new bodysuit used by swimmers when a cascade of world records were broken since February.

"It's not a real problem. I said so before and I'm saying again that the new suit has become an excuse and is poisoning the world of swimming," said Horter.

"At the end of the (French) championships, we'll have a 10-day break that will help me to take stock of the situation," he said.

"What we have to change is the level of pleasure she gets from swimming and change her way of life during the next three months."

(Writing by Jean-Paul Couret, editing by Rex Gowar)