A huge phew and a lot of happiness. Chartres experienced a third day of the French championships rich in emotion, this Thursday, June 17. Before the eagerly awaited 100 m and 50 m NL, with Florent Manaudou, from this Friday, it is the double round trip that plunged the French swimming into intoxication. A great joy with a scent of relief for the winners Charlotte Bonnet and Jordan Pothain.
“There, I lost several kilos of weight that I dragged like a ball”, savored the Niçoise after having distributed the hugs at the exit of the basin. To his Swiss darling Jérémy Desplanches. To her partners in blue Mélanie Hènes and Fantine Lesaffre… whom she will be accompanying to Tokyo this summer. This is the good news of the day. At 26, the bronze medalist in the 2012 4x200m relay in London qualified for her third consecutive Games, winning in 1’56”67.
French Championships: Mewen Tomac, the only qualifier of the day in Chartres
Never mind that the stopwatch was almost two seconds longer than his personal best 1’54”95. The main thing was to sign the required minimums (1’57”28). “The first occasions, he missed two hundredths then a tenth. And there was another disappointment at the European Championships where I was not on the box (4th). It had been complicated to leave each time, with this pressure. I had already known moments like that, in my career, but there… ”
Qualified relays too
Ups and downs is the life of a top athlete. Since his 8th place in Rio over 400m, which propelled him to the rank of great hope, Jordan Pothain has gone through years of hardship. This Thursday, the 26-year-old Isérois drew an end to this long period of doubt.
In the morning, no less than 14 swimmers had achieved the required time during the heats. In the final, he was faster (1’46”93) to get his ticket to Tokyo with his runner-up Jonathan Atsu.
” That’s crazy. I don’t think I realize yet. I am under the influence of emotion. But with all that has happened to me, I enjoy it all the more, ”he said.
Léon Marchand, for his part, has come down a little from his cloud. Two days after his feat in the 400m medley, sesame for the Games matched with a French record, the kid from Toulouse won the 200m butterfly by exploding his best time (1’55”40), but he didn’t did not succeed in the morning minima.
There were also no other individual tickets won this Thursday. But the French delegation in Tokyo is already guaranteed to include more than twelve swimmers since the two 4 x 200 m relays will be part of the trip. We are approaching a very good vintage to grow again this weekend.
Franck Thébault
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