Camille Muffat

Camille Muffat (French pronunciation: [ka.mij myfa]; 28 October 1989 – 9 March 2015) was a French swimmer and three-time Olympic medalist who specialised in the individual medley and the free style events. Her career spanned from 2005 to 2014.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she won gold in the 400-metre freestyle, silver in the 200-metre freestyle and bronze in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, becoming the fourth French swimmer to win an individual Olympic gold medal. She was also the third French athlete overall to win three Olympic medals at a single edition of the Olympic Games.

She died in the Villa Castelli mid-air helicopter collision, at age 25, during the filming of French TV reality show Dropped for the TF1 network.

Early life

Camille Marie Manuella Muffat was born on 28 October 1989 in Nice, to Guy Muffat, a physical therapist, and Laurence, a nurse. She had an older sister, Chloé, and a younger brother, Quentin.

Upon finishing high school, she pursued a degree in economics, during which time she swam under a high-performance athlete studying system. She eventually dropped out of school in order to pursue her swimming career.

Career

2005–2007

Muffat began swimming competitively at Club Olympic Nice Natation, at the age of nine. She initially trained as a medley swimmer and was particularly gifted in the breaststroke and front crawl.

Muffat first rose to prominence in 2005, upon beating fellow Frenchwoman Laure Manaudou in the 200 m individual medley event at the French National Championship, in Nancy, also breaking the French national record, which Manaudou had held.