in Chartres, 17 French swimmers validated their ticket for the Games – Libération

After the Blues of athletics in Rome, it was the turn of the French swimmers to give everything to qualify for the Paris Games. Six weeks before the opening, the French swimming team met in Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), from Sunday to Friday, for the French swimming championships with a special flavor. With all eyes turned towards the Paris deadline, the swimmers had only one obsession: to get their ticket to Paris 2024.

For six days, tension remained at its peak within the walls of the Odyssey, the aquatic complex of the Chartres metropolis. In each final at the Olympics, you had to finish in the first two, and do better than the Olympic minimums set by the international federation. In this game, there are two teams. For a handful of athletes, the minimums are just a formality – you still have to not miss out. And the rest fight in the hope of securing a qualification. At the finish, there are 17 who have qualified for individual events, to which must be added those who will swim in the relays. Libération takes stock.

The stars

Five-time world champion and holder of the world record in the 400 meter medley (submitted to the legend Michael Phelps), Léon Marchand managed his week perfectly. Competing for his second Games at the age of 22, he leaves Chartres with four tickets, after his successes in the finals of the 400 meter medley on Monday, the 200 meter butterfly and the 200 meter breaststroke on Wednesday (contested at less than an hour apart), then the 200 meter medley on Friday. At the end of his qualifying marathon, he looked relieved: “Obviously, I think about Paris a little bit every day because that’s what I’m preparing for. There, I did the stage that was the most difficult for me, and afterward it’s going to be nothing but fun.”

The captain of the French team, Florent Manaudou, arrived in Chartres well fit after having lost 8 kilos (he returned to 101 kilos, the weight he was between 2013 and 2021). The 33-year-old veteran has two ambitions at the Games: campaigning to be France’s flag bearer, he is also aiming for a fourth Olympic medal in the 50-meter freestyle. On this second objective, it was first necessary to ensure qualification, and Manaudou knew that he would only have one chance: “The Olympic selections are the worst competition of the year. In other sports, there are several chances to qualify. But we have to be there on the big day. We had to be there at 6:13 p.m. on June 20.” The sprinter responded on Thursday, winning in 21”54 in the final. Coming out of the pool, he savored: “See you in Paris. Fourth Games, plus at home, I can’t wait.” During the series, Manaudou even posted the fifth best performance of the season, and the ninth of his career (in 21″52). In short, the “Gorilla” has proven that we will still have to count on him.

Maxime Grousset is also a sprint expert and he too arrived in great shape in Chartres. But he doesn’t put all his eggs in one basket. At the Games, he will be able to compete in up to three events: the 100 meter butterfly (after having largely dominated the debates, like the good world champion that he is); the 100 meter freestyle (in which he won the final, achieving the third world time of the season as well as his personal best time); and the 50 meter freestyle (where he established himself as Manaudou’s runner-up). On this last distance, the New Caledonian does not know if he will compete in Paris, because 50 meters freestyle and 100 meters butterfly overlap in the Olympic program: “I have my ticket on the 50, we will see what I do.”

Favorites

Middle-distance specialist Anastasiia Kirpichnikova qualified for Paris in her three favorite distances, the 400 meters, 800 meters and 1,500 meters freestyle. Although she largely won each time, Kirpichnikova sometimes came close to meeting the times required to qualify for the Games. “I did a good 400, an average 1,500 because I was starting to get tired and the 800 was my last distance so I had to hold on mentally and physically,” analyzed the swimmer of Russian origin after her last race. I’m tired but very happy.” With these Olympic qualifications, the Russian takes revenge for the months in which she was deprived of competition because of the war in Ukraine. She is finally back in the swimming elite thanks to her French naturalization in April 2023.

Former Blues captain Mélanie Hénique won the 50-meter butterfly. Carried by the “craze” of the public, which she did not “expect”, she had fun in her flagship discipline, without pressure because it does not exist at the Olympics. To still ensure her presence in Paris, Mélanie Hénique had focused her preparation on the 50-meter freestyle. The oldest member of the Bleues (31 years old) qualified thanks to her time of 24”53 (Olympic minimum of 24”70). Just behind Béryl Gastaldello (24”51) and just in front of Marie Wattel (24”57), who is deprived of qualification by third place. Mélanie Hénique relishes: “I’m really happy because it’s my best 50 meters of the season and I’m doing it in the final of the French championships.”

Imperial, Mewen Tomac won the 50 meters-100 meters-200 meters backstroke hat-trick. And even a French record in the 200. The backstroker therefore won two tickets for the Games (the 50 meters is not on the Olympic program). Very close to a podium over 200 meters at the last Worlds (fifth in 2022, then fourth in 2023), Mewen Tomac clearly stated his objective for Paris: “The medal.” His main French competitor, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, took second place and Olympic qualification over the same distances.

David Aubry can breathe. The half-distance runner made sure to be triple qualified – in 400 meters, 800 meters and 1,500 meters freestyle – without shining but by doing better than the Olympic minimums. A relief for the bronze medalist over 1,500 meters at the World Championships in Doha in February, who had put immense pressure on himself, to the point of losing sleep. “I had no right to miss out,” he said, still trembling, after his first race. In the 1,500 meters, he will be accompanied by Damien Joly, former French record holder for this distance, who will participate, at the age of 32, in his third Games (after London and Rio).

Ghosts

Marie Wattel was the first, on Sunday, to punch her ticket for the Games by winning in the 100 meter butterfly. The soundtrack of her victory would surely be Liberated, delivered: since her title of vice-world champion in the 100-meter butterfly in 2022, the 27-year-old Northerner has had a lot of doubts after having a series of injuries. Marie Wattel then even offered herself a second qualification, Tuesday, in 100 meters freestyle. By finishing her race in 58”61, she reached the Olympic minimums to the nearest hundredth.

For Charlotte Bonnet, the co-captain of the French team, the start of the week had been nothing but disillusionment. The former Nice native, who recently moved to Switzerland to follow her partner, was keen to secure her ticket for the fourth, and final, Olympiad of her career. On Sunday, she climbed to the top of the podium in the 100-meter breaststroke, but with an insufficient time to go to the Games. Tuesday, she finished at the foot of the podium in the 100 meters freestyle, a distance at which she was nevertheless European vice-champion in 2022. Finally, salvation came from the 200 meters medley on Friday. By touching the wall in 2′11′’18, Charlotte Bonnet snatched her qualification (the minimums are 2′11′’47). “Forgive me for the expression, but what the hell did I do,” she exulted a few minutes later, her eyes moist.

At the foot of the podium in the 100 meters backstroke, Pauline Mahieu “clung on” to seek qualification in the 200 meters. After a pre-race filled with “tears” and “doubts”, she was able to savor her second place, and her time which sent her to Paris. Coming out of the pool, she exulted: “It’s an immense relief and pride.”

The surprises

It’s an understatement to say that he struck a major blow. Rafael Fente Damers, barely 17 years old, joined the French Olympic team, thanks to his great performance in the 100 meter freestyle. In 48”14, not far from the Olympic minimums set at 48”34, he achieved his best personal time. Unable to believe it, the young sprinter hit the water with his left arm so hard that he dislocated his shoulder and had to wait for help to arrive to extract himself from the pool. After a battery of medical examinations, Fente Damers was back in Chartres on Friday with reassuring news: “It will be fine for the Olympics, I have no worries. I’ve had injuries like this before and I’ve always come back stronger.” It’s only the beginning: in 2025, he will join Bob Bowman, Marchand’s coach, at the University of Texas. To become the new Rafa, the one of swimming pools?

#Chartres2024 | 🏆 Maxime Grousset champion of France for the fifth time in a row in the 100m freestyle!

💪 The New Caledonian sets his personal best and qualifies for the Paris Games. He will be accompanied by the young Rafael Fente Damers who also achieves the minimums! pic.twitter.com/8G08AClQ28

— francetvsport (@francetvsport) June 18, 2024

Another runner-up to Grousset, Clément Secchi took second place in the 100 meter butterfly final, depriving Mehdy Metella of a long-awaited qualification. At 24, Secchi will compete in his first Olympics, he who defines himself as “a small swimmer” (1.80 meters) and had to “find other ways to gain the advantage”.

In the 800 meters final, David Aubry was favorite, but it was Pacome Bricout who won. At only 19 years old, and despite the mononucleosis which exhausted him last winter, the middle-distance swimmer will take part in his first Games.

Especially expected in the 200 meters backstroke, Emma Terebo surprised everyone by first winning in the 100 meters on Monday. The backstroker qualified and even set the French record, with a time of 58”79. Coming out of the 200 meters final, which she also won, Terebo let her joy explode: “Leaving for the Paris Games in the 100 meters and 200 meters is like I dreamed of. I am so happy.”

The disappointed

There were five French backstrokers in total claiming qualification in the 100 meter backstroke. Only the first two, Emma Terebo and Béryl Gastaldello, left Chartres with a ticket to Paris. For the third and fifth, Mary-Ambre Moluh and Analia Pigrée, the pill is difficult to swallow: although they then performed well in the 50 meter backstroke, the specialty is not Olympic.

Cyrielle Duhamel (400 meters medley), Hadrien Salvan (200 meters freestyle), Lucile Tessariol (200m freestyle), Zia Dupont (200 meters breaststroke) or Lara Grangeon de Villele (200 meters butterfly) were all crowned in their disciplines respective teams, but failed to qualify individually.