Yannick Agnel’s Detention by Police Extended on Friday Morning

More details are emerging about the detention of French swimmer Yannick Agnel on charges that he raped a minor.

France’s leading sports news outlet L’Equipe is reporting that the minor who has made the accusation was 13 years old at the time of the alleged rapes between October 2014 and August 2016.

While SwimSwam is not specifically identifying the victim, that identity has been widely-reported in French media. The investigation was opened by the Mulhouse club where Agnel trained at the time and its head coach Lionel Horter, who is reported by French media to be related to the victim.

In 2020, a French court ordered that the club had to pay Agnel 60,000 Euros ($68,000 USD) in owed salary for the final year of his contract from when he still competed for the club. An appeal in that case is scheduled for next March.

Agnel was arrested at his home on Thursday afternoon for questioning, and that custody has been extended on Friday morning.

Le Parisien is reporting that Agnel is in “Garde à Vue,” according to British activist group Green and Black Cross. That status in French law is speficially a pre-trial detention that normally lasts up to 24 hours. That status can be extended to 48 hours by a prosecutor or 96 hours on terrorism charges.

At the end of this period, he can be released without charge, offered pre-trial diversion, released and given a date to appear in court, or held in jail for up to 20 hours. In the most serious cases, people in Garde à Vue can be detained until trials.

French media is also reporting that Agnel’s teammates at Mulhouse were questioned prior to his arrest.

Agnel had been working with FranceInfo to produce both written columns and a podcast on E-Sports since last May. FranceInfo has suspended that contract, pending outcomes of the investigations.

Agnel trained at Mulhouse, a club that has come into financial and legal trouble recently, from September 2014 until the summer of 2016, departing after the Olympic Games in Rio.

The 29-year-old announced his retirement after those 2016 Games.

Agnel won three medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, including a pair of golds in the men’s 200 freestyle and 400 free relay. He also anchored the French team to silver in the 800 free relay, and was a double gold medalist at the 2013 World Championships in the 200 free and 400 free relay.

Agnel is currently the world record holder in the men’s 400 freestyle in short course meters (3:32.25), and owns the fastest time ever recorded in a textile suit in the LCM 200 free from those 2012 Games (1:43.14).

Since retiring from the sport in 2016, Agnel has made some media appearances on French television and did coverage for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.