Amaury Leveaux

Amaury Leveaux

Amaury Leveaux on winning the silver medal in the 50 m at the 2008 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Amaury Raymond Leveaux
Nationality	France
Born	(1985-12-02) 2 December 1985 (age 31) Belfort, France
Height	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
Weight	88 kg (194 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle, butterfly
Club	Lagardère Paris Racing
Medal record Men's swimming Representing France Olympic Games 2012 London 4×100 m freestyle 2008 Beijing 50 m freestyle 2008 Beijing 4×100 m freestyle 2012 London 4×200 m freestyle World Championships (LC) 2013 Barcelona 4×100 m freestyle 2007 Melbourne 4×100 m freestyle 2009 Rome 50 m freestyle 2009 Rome 4×100 m freestyle European Championships (LC) 2012 Debrecen 4×100 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 100 m butterfly 2008 Eindhoven 200 m freestyle 2010 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle 2012 Debrecen 200 m freestyle 2004 Madrid 4×100 m freestyle 2004 Madrid 4×200 m freestyle 2006 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle European Championships (SC) 2008 Rijeka 50 m freestyle 2008 Rijeka 100 m freestyle 2008 Rijeka 50 m butterfly 2008 Rijeka 4×50 m freestyle 2009 Istanbul 100 m freestyle 2009 Istanbul 4×50 m freestyle 2012 Chartres 4×50 m freestyle 2012 Chartres 4×50 m mixed freestyle 2011 Szczecin 50 m butterfly 2009 Istanbul 4×50 m medley Mediterranean Games 2005 Almería 4×100 m freestyle 2009 Pescara 4×100 m freestyle 2005 Almería 200 m freestyle 2005 Almería 4×200 m freestyle

Amaury Raymond Leveaux (born 2 December 1985) is a French swimmer from Belfort. Leveaux is the current world record holder in the 100 m freestyle (short course – 44.94 sec). He formerly held the world records in the 50 m freestyle (short course – 20.48 sec) and the 50 m butterfly (short course – 22.18 sec). He also formerly held the national record in the 200 m freestyle (long course – 1:46.54).

Up to 2003, Leveaux competed in the junior categories, and was runner-up in the 100 m freestyle and the 100 m butterfly in the European Championships in Glasgow in 2003. Having previously dominated the French junior championships, Leveaux took the silver in the 50 m butterfly event in the French open championship in 2003 held in Saint-Étienne.

In 2004, Leveaux won his first gold medal in the French Championships in the 200 m freestyle, while also taking the silver in the 100 m freestyle event. He was later chosen to join the French national swimming squad for the European Championships held in Madrid, where he helped the French relay team win the bronze medal in the 4×100 and 4 × 200 m freestyle events. In the individual 200 m freestyle event, Leveaux came in fifth, breaking his first French record with 1 min 48.80 seconds. Three months later, Leveaux competed on the relay team in the Athens games, in the 4×100 and 4 × 200 m freestyle events. Although the team failed to qualify for the final in the 4×100 m, the team came in seventh place in the 4 × 200 m.

Leveaux was the runner-up in the 100 m freestyle at the 2005 French National Championships, and participated in the World Championships in Montréal in July, he qualified for the final in the 100 m freestyle, but came in at eighth place. In 2006, he became national champion in the 100 m butterfly and European runner-up – he came in behind the Ukrainian Andriy Serdinov in Budapest.

At the French national championships, Leveaux managed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 50 m and 200 m freestyle events. Finishing fifth in the 100 m, he also qualified for the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay team. He set an Olympic record in the 100 m freestyle in the heats of the relay after leading off. France finished second in the final and Leveaux thus won a silver medal. Later in the week, Leveaux set an Olympic record in his preliminary 50 m freestyle heat with a time of 21.46 seconds. In the final of that event, he swam even faster (21.45 seconds) but finished behind Brazil's César Cielo Filho to take the silver medal.