Alain Gottvalles, the first man to swim inside 53sec in the 100m freestyle back in 1964, died on February 29, after fighting bone cancer. He was 65.

Gotvalles, of France, broke the world record in the 100m on September 13, 1964. His 52.9sec was matched by Stephen Clark (USA) leading off the American relay to a world-record victory a month and a day later at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Clark did not make the grade for an individual swim in Tokyo, while Gotvalles, European champion in the 100m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle at the 1962 championships in Leipzig, suffered from nerves at the Olympic Games and did not swim at his best.

In Tokyo, Gottvalles was subjected to some pre-race pressure from the USA. Don Schollander, the man who would become the first swimmer to win four gold medals at one Olympics - stalked Gottvalles by following him into a large, empty public restroom before the 100m final. Faced with dozens of urinals, Gottvalles went to the middle of the bank to make a deposit. Instead of choosing a different urinal, Schollander stood inches behind the Frenchman, and hours later swam to victory in the 100m, leaving Gottvalles back in fifth. That terrific tale was first told to me as a child in a cutting my father gave to me of an article written by Pat Besford, a leading British sportswriter of her day and former President of the international press association.

Schollander himself wrote the story in Deep Water in 1971: "I could see he [Gottvalles] was pretty nervous about the race. He seemed like a pretty high-strung guy. Actually, I was pretty relaxed because I thought I could make the finals without any trouble ... every now and then I would glance at Gottvalles and I began to get the feeling that I bothered him, so I moved a little closer still, until I was standing right over him. He moved away, farther down the bench, and I began to edge up to him again. Finally, he got up and headed for the locker room and went into the bathroom. And I followed him. He stepped up to a urinal and although there was another one free, I stood behind him and waited for him. When he finished, he turned and almost ran out of the bathroom ... he had talked so much and he was so arrogant, and I wanted to see if it would work ... that's the kind of thing that goes on all the time at the Olympics."

Gottvalles broke his first European record in the 100m at Thionville, in 55.0 in August, 1962, and on the same day joined teammates to set a world record of 3:42.5 in the 4x100m freestyle. Two weeks later, he beat Per Ola Lindberg (SWE) for the European crown in Leipzig with the same time. The Frenchman lost the record to Bobby McGregor (GBR), who would take silver just 0.1sec behind Schollander in Tokyo, while Lindberg (once) and McGregor (a further three times) would take the record down in stages to 53.9 before Gottvalles fabulous 52.9 set a new standard at a meet in Budapest.

Gottvalles, with teammates, also held the European records in the 4x100m freestyle (twice) and the 4x200m (once).

The world record of 52.9 held by Gottvalles and equalled by Clarke was beaten when Ken Walsh made history in more ways than one at Winnipeg on July 27, 1967: in 52.58, the American became the first swimmer ever to break a world record by stopping a Touch Pad and having his time recorded electronically to a hundredth of a second.

Gottvalles, who raced at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, retired in the wake of Tokyo.

The tributes to him ran far and wide in France. Among them this gem from Kiki Caron, Olympic medallist and a former teammate of Gotvalles, as told to L'Equipe: 'It's sad. I recall his world record in 1964. I was in Budapest and I was fascinated. I was just 15 - and what a beautiful boy! A real hunk. A bit of a show off, a wasted talent, a little bit nonchalant ... and a packet of Gitanes in his pocket! He was a huge talent but for him, there was life too [beyond swimming].'