Yannick AGNEL
YANNICK AGNEL’S SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTSYannick Agnel was born 9th June 1992. In April 2010 he was first noted during the French Championships in Saint-Raphaël. At only 17, he broke his first national record in 200m Freestyle with a time of 1’45’’35 and did it without using a bodyskin. Trained by Fabrice Pellerin, the swimming prodigy from Nice, France, would go on to get his Baccalaureat in Science and win five Junior European titles before going on to swim the 400 metre Freestyle with European seniors in Budapest.
“I had so much fun”, he admits about winning that victory without truly realising the scope of his achievement. “I cannot wait to go up against the world’s elite swimmers.”
With this emerged a true persona; honest, natural and witty. Yannick is also passionate about literature devouring several books per week. “I have been told that I am an intellectual, but if being an intellectual means questioning myself, then yes, I am. You do not just get to this level of competition by accident. It’s important to determine how, establish why.”
And it’s thanks to this mindset that he achieves the extraordinary at the London Olympic Games taking home the gold medal in 4×100 metre Freestyle Relay.
He further proved his talent and boosted his young career clinching another gold medal the next day in the 200 metre Freestyle, his preferred race. Baffled by the French virtuoso, Michael Phelps praised, “Yannick swam the best 200 metre race in history. With his enormous talent, he has some great years ahead of him!”
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2012 :
- London 2012 Olympic Champion in 200m Freestyle and 4x100m Freestyle Relay, silver in 4x200m Freestyle, 4th place in 100m Freestyle.
- Holds the French record for the 200m Freestyle (1’43’’14 on 30/07/12).
- French champion in 100 and 200m Freestyle in Dunkerque.
2011 :
- Silver medal in the World Championships in Shanghai (China) in 4x200m Freestyle, 4th in 200m Freestyle and 6th in 400m Freestyle.
- Holds the French record in 400m Freestyle (3’43’’85 on 23/03/11).
- French champion in 200 and 400m Freestyle in Strasbourg.
2010 :
- European champion in 400m Freestyle in Budapest (Hungary), silver medal in 4x100m Freestyle, bronze medal in 4x200m Freestyle
- World Champion in the World Championships in Dubai (UAE) in 4x100m Freestyle in a short course pool
- 5 gold medals in the Junior European Championships in Helsinki (Finland) in 100, 200, 400, 4×100 et 4x200m Freestyle and silver medal in 4x100m Medley.
- French champion in 200m Freestyle in Saint-Raphaël.
2009 :
- 3 gold medals in the Junior European Championships in Prague (Czech Republic) in 200, 400 et 4x200m Freestyle, silver medal in 4x100m Freestyle.
- 10th in 200m Freestyle, 12th in 400m Freestyle and 14th in 100m Freestyle in the French Championships in Montpellier
2008 :
- 10th in 400m Freestyle, 15th in 100m Freestyle and 17th in 200m Freestyle in the French Championships in Dunkerque
RECORDS:
- World record holder in 400m Freestyle and Europe record holder in 800m Freestyle in a short course pool
- French record holder in 200 and 400m Freestyle