| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Alain Bernard |
| Nationality | France |
| Born | 1 May 1983 Aubagne, France |
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 90 kg (200 lb; 14 st) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Stroke(s) | Freestyle |
| Club | CN Antibes |
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Medal record
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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, 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.[1]
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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.[2] 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.
| Event | Long course | Short course |
|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 21.23 | 21.59 |
| 100 m freestyle | 46.94 | 45.69 |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:47.81 | 1:46.43 |
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.
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eamon Sullivan |
Men's 50 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 23 March 2008 – 27 March 2008 |
Succeeded by Eamon Sullivan |
| Preceded by Pieter van den Hoogenband Eamon Sullivan Eamon Sullivan |
Men's 100 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 21 March 2008 – 11 August 2008 13 August 2008 23 April 2009 – 22 June 2009 (record annulled) |
Succeeded by Eamon Sullivan Eamon Sullivan Eamon Sullivan |
| Preceded by Stefan Nystrand |
Men's 100 metres freestyle world record holder (short course) 7 December 2008 – 12 December 2008 |
Succeeded by Amaury Leveaux |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Mateusz Sawrymowicz |
European Swimmer of the Year 2008 |
Succeeded by Paul Biedermann |
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