Female French Swimmer Laure Manaudou has had a hard go of it of late. Just on top of the swimming World two years ago and in love with Italian Swimmer Male Luca Martin, Laure Manaudou saw her life change rapidly. After breaking up with Luca Martin, tossing the ring he gave her into the pool, nude photos of her surface on The Internet, embarrasing her in the process. Fast Forward to Beijing. Luca Martin has taken up with another female swimmer, Federica Pellegrini. Beautiful, athletic, and stunning, Federica Pellegrini has Laure Manaudou’s ex-boyfriend and her ex-coach. Then on Sunday, Laure Manaudou suffers a total performance collapse, coming in last in the 400m Freestyle race. Then, to add insult to injury, Laure Manaudou’s 2007 200m Freestyle record is broken by none other than Federica Pellegrini, who also turned her back on Laure on Sunday. The only way Laure can prevail and salvage a wrecked career is to beat Federica Pellegrini in the finals on Wednesday. I’m rooting for Laure Manaudou, as she’s been through far too much and is too talented for the treatment she’s gotten. What’s fascinating about this is the level of attention female swimmers are given in Europe; much more than in the United States. Swimmers like Laure and Federica appear on talk shows and in the front page of magazines, and are chased by photographers. It’s an interesting cultural development.