Laure Manaudou will be back on the deck with her brother Nicholas at the French Cup at Chamalières next week - to race two 200m events, one of them on backstroke. The world 200 and 400m freestyle champion and world record holder from France will not race in the two events in which she won Olympic gold and bronze medals, 400m freestyle and 100m backstroke respectively.

The cup test will help Manaudou's new primary coach Lionel Horter, of Mulhouse (which just happens to be the training base of her new boyfriend, Benjamin Stasiulis), assess how the star of French swimming has fared at altitude training in Font Romeu this week and next.

Horter told L'Equipe that Manaudou has trained well and completed her programme but is suffering from a 'severe' shoulder complaint, one that needs constant monitoring but will not prevent the swimmer from training on in Olympic year. As Horter put it: ' ... she has no choice - she has to work.'

Patricia Quint, national head coach for women in France, is an ever-present figure in Manaudou's new world, a cog that brings together the various coaching wheels that the swimmer is now working through. The 200m backstroke is an event that allows Manaudou to race beyond her signature events and builds stamina for her backstroke sprint but it also leaves open the door for what could be a breathtaking tapered effort over four long-course laps at some stage in the Frenchwoman's career.

Meantime, the mayor of Manaudou's home town, Ambérieu-en-Bugey (12,000 inhabitants), Gilles Piralla, told French reporters: 'I'm surprised to hear of her departure [to Mulhouse] ... but at Mulhouse, she will have more professional training conditions than we can provide for her.'

He added: 'I'm still sad for her brother Nicolas, who takes his work seriously.' But the Manaudou family and the home community would always be there for the most famous daughter of Ambérieu-en-Bugey. 'She's always welcome. I've known her since she was a little girl. She's one of our children.'

In a far-away land fading in Manaudou's memory, Luca Marin, the ex, tells a magazine - reviewed by ANSA, the Italian agency - that his former girlfriend was 'very possessive' and would send him sms messages at four in the morning. A disturbance he needn't worry about anymore.