Olympic champion Laure Manaudou is to join Mulhouse as she prepares for this year's Beijing Games, the president of the French swimming club told radio France Bleu Alsace.

"Laure showed the desire to come to Mulhouse and we are negotiating, it's going nicely," Laurent Horter told the radio station.

"She is not only a swimmer, she is also a star. It is normal that there are some little problems but they are being resolved.

"However, she is happy to come to Mulhouse," he added.

In Mulhouse, Manaudou will work with Lionel Horter, the coach who led France's Roxana Maracineanu to the 200 metres backstroke world title in 1998.

Manaudou, who hold the 200 and 400 freestyle world records, currently trains in Amberieu-en-Bugey under her older brother's guidance.

Last May, the Olympic 400 freestyle champion caused a rumpus in France when she joined the LaPresse Nuoto club in Turin, saying she wanted a new challenge and wished to be nearer her then boyfriend Luca Marin.

The club fired her three months later, citing attitude problems and Manaudou later broke up with Marin.

Reuters