Florent Manaudou (French pronunciation: [flɔʁɑ̃ manodu]; born 12 November 1990) is a French competitive swimmer, an Olympic champion of the 50-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, and the younger brother of Laure Manaudou, an 2004 Olympic gold medalist in swimming. He currently holds the world record in the 50-meter freestyle and backstroke (short course).
Manaudou is the son of a French father and a Dutch mother. He first began swimming under the direction of his older brother, Nicholas Manaudou, and later joined the swimming club of Marseilles, France. In 2007, he was the Junior Champion of France of the 50-meter freestyle event. In 2009, he joined the French Army and is currently in an artillery regiment.
He and his sister Laure are the first siblings to both win Olympic gold medals in swimming. In addition to swimming, he is known for his dimples, his pierced tongue, and tribal tattoo.
Manaudou was awarded the Knight of the French National Order of the Légion d'Honneur for his "eminent merits" in swimming for his performance in 2012.
In his only individual event at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, the 50-meter butterfly, Manaudou placed fifth in the final with a time of 23.49. It was slightly slower than the times he posted in the heats (23.31) and semifinals (23.32). Manaudou also competed in the heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay and as the butterfly leg, had a split of 54.02. The French team did not advance to the final with an overall time of 3:36.21.
At the French Olympic Trials, Manaudou qualified for the 2012 London Olympics in London by finishing second behind Amaury Leveaux in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.95. Despite entering the Olympics with only the 10th fastest time in the men's 50-meter freestyle in the world that year, Manaudou won the gold medal in that event (which was the only event he entered). He thus became the first French gold-medalist of the men's 50-meter freestyle and the sixth French Olympic champion in an individual event. Swimming out in lane 7 in the final, Manaudou had a time of 21.34 and finished ahead of Cullen Jones and favorite César Cielo, the defending champion and world record holder. Manaudou's time was slightly slower than the Olympic record of 21.30 set by Cielo in 2008, but was an unofficial fastest time swam in textile (that is, not wearing a high-tech suit). Going into the final, Manaudou recorded a time of 22.09 in the heats and 21.80 in the semifinals.