Olympic gold medalist Camille Muffat was killed on Monday in a helicopter crash while filming a reality TV show in Argentina. She was 25.
The versatile French swimmer first hit the pool when she was just 7 years old. By the time she was 12, Muffat was training under Fabrice Pellerin, head coach of Olympic Nice Natation, a top training facility for champion swimmers.
Although she became accomplished at the breaststroke, Muffat's speciality was the front crawl, which she used to win a gold medal in the women's 400 freestyle -- and set a new Olympic record in the process -- at the 2012 London Olympics. Muffat also took home the silver medal in the women’s 200 meter freestyle, and a bronze medal as a member of the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay.
Muffat was the former world record holder in the 400 and 800 SCM freestyle, Swim Swam reported. In 2012, she was named the French Sportswoman of the Year.
Muffat retired from the sport in 2014, citing "personal reasons."
When asked about life outside of the pool, Muffat told Le Monde that she enjoyed playing with her Persian cat Lulu and English bulldog Brioche, going shopping, doing puzzles and spending time with her friends and family.
At the time of her death, Muffat was a cast member on the French reality TV show "Dropped," in which two teams of celebrities are left in separate remote locations and challenged to be the first to return to civilization.
During filming on Monday, Muffat was killed when the helicopter she was on collided in mid-air with another in La Rioja province, BBC reported. Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine, a bronze medal winner for France at the 2008 Games in Beijing, champion sailor Florence Arthaud, who won the Route du Rhum in 1990, five members of the show's production staff and two Argentine pilots also perished in the crash.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Related
Before You Go
