Engaged in the 10 km Olympic in open water for these Olympic Games, the Caledonian is aiming for a medal which would mark an extraordinary course.
She has 52 national titles and is playing her third Olympic Games in Tokyo. A few hours before her 10 km open water race, Wednesday August 4 at 8:30 am, look back at Lara Grangeon’s career, full of challenges. His relatives confide in his career.
Japan, a country dear to the Grangeons
Kanjis (Japanese characters) on a wall. Mount Fuji painted on top of another. Reproductions of samurai inside the house, or traditional lamps. The Land of the Rising Sun has been everywhere with the Grangeons since they returned from a family trip over ten years ago. Chance of life, it is in Tokyo that one of their daughter will experience her third Olympic Games, which no Caledonian athlete has achieved so far. This Saturday, July 17, family and loved ones gathered to talk about Lara. The only thing missing is his mother, Catherine, who has gone to France to encourage him, as close as possible.
“We got her on the phone. She was warming up for her last morning workout before the start.”, says his father, Jean-Paul. “She is going to take the plane to Tokyo at 1 pm”, complete Alexandra, his little sister. The latter is his biggest fan. She hasn’t missed any of her major competitions and continues to be amazed. “What I admire the most about his career is that just after the Rio Games in 2016 [en bassin], she changed coaches and decided to start open water. ”
She has given herself three years to qualify for the next Olympics, thus becoming the best Frenchwoman. And she succeeded!
“It’s amazing, I am so proud that she achieved this goal. Knowing that the second, of course, is the medal”, she smiles.
“Are you going to become a great champion?”
Remarkable, the road traveled by Lara Grangeon is undoubtedly. It starts very early, in the Cercle des nageurs calédoniens pools in Nouméa. In an old digitized family video, we see her swimming under the gaze of her parents. As she finishes a length, the father questions his 5-year-old daughter: “Are you going to become a great champion?”. “Yes”, she answers with a big smile.
After the baby-swimmers, she takes the different 200m and specializes in the 400m medley with her educators, Eddy Lucas, Dominique Mollier, Philippe Chapelle and Cyril Huët, “impressed by his conviction”, underlines the latter. Here she is in the footsteps of Laurence, her big sister, champion of Caledonia and the Pacific in this event.
“She already knew, so young, what she wanted”
In 2004, aware of his potential, the CNC invited him to spend three weeks at the France pole of Font-Romeu, in complete autonomy. The following year, convinced by the experience, she did not hesitate to rally him, this time for good. Far from those close to her, she confronts herself at a very high level, trained by a technical frame of reference, Richard Martinez.
Not afraid, she adapts, and will even try a one-year experience in Spain later to aim even higher. A temperament apart, underlines his eldest in the siblings [c’est quoi son prénom?].
It’s a bit of a ball of love and benevolence, with a mind of steel. She never gives up, she never gives up in the face of effort.
Camille, her childhood friend, remembers the departure. “We were in second, and Lara told us during the break that she was going to France to dedicate herself to high-level swimming. It was impressive. She already knew, so young, what she wanted”, she assures.
The first Games at 21
The titles at the French elite short and long course championships are accumulating. She won thirteen until 2012, the year of her first Olympic Games, in London, at only 21 years old. The family is in the stands, each wearing a letter of their first name on a T-shirt in the colors of France. The officials of the Caledonian Olympic and sports committee are also present. There had not been a swimmer from the territory in this competition for 44 years. Lara took over from Simone Hanner and Marie-Josée Kersaudy, who qualified for Mexico 1968. She finished 18th in the 400m medley.
Four years later, after overcoming a shoulder injury, winning 16 additional national coronations, and finishing 8th at the Worlds in 400 medley, she is still there for the Games in Brazil. The finals of the 200m butterfly and the medley still elude him. A nasopharyngitis prevented him from being at 100% of his capacity.
The open water bend
Then comes the time for a new challenge: open water, to get an Olympic medal. At 15, Lara was already shining in this specialty at the Pacific Games in Samoa, with a gold medal. In April 2016, she also participated in the great Lighthouse Amédée-Anse Vata crossing, 18 km in the open sea completed in 4 hours and 12 minutes. But at a very high level, leaving the safety of a basin line for the tumult of racing at sea, it remains another world to face. recalls his brother, Paul-Antoine.
It’s very strategic. Throughout an open water race, the competitors test themselves. There are acceleration, you have to stay in contact, but that also means taking hits, hurting yourself.
“You have to take the right passages of buoys where someone can restart. It’s also a bit like Formula 1: if you’re badly placed and it goes, the problem is that it’s too late”, he explains.
A new challenge met by giving ourselves the means. She first joined Philippe Lucas in Montpellier, a trainer renowned for the quality of his work as well as his direct and hot temper. She then left for Rouen, to collaborate with Damien Cattin-Vidal. Lara continues to align herself with the pool events that demand speed, and she adds those that promote endurance, notably the 1,500m freestyle.
Titled once over this distance between 2009 and 2014, she will win four other finals at the French championships between 2018 and 2019. Open water work helps the pool, and vice versa. In 2017, in Dunkirk, she signed a hat-trick over 5, 10 and 25 kilometers at the French Open Water Championships. The following year, it was bronze at the European Championships in Glasgow over 25 km. And in 2019, in Korea, she won the Olympic qualification over 10 km at the Yeosu Worlds, taking 4th place. Aurélie Muller, double world champion, finished 11th.
“I put her at the same level as Christian Karembeu”
Nickolas N’Godrella was also seated at the family table on Saturday. The son of former professional tennis player Wanaro N’Godrella knows Lara very well. They experienced the Pacific Games together and were the flagship of the Caledonian delegation for those of 2011, at home. She, as the leader of swimming, he, as the leader of tennis. He’s the best player in the area for over ten years. “My idol, when I was little, was Christian Karembeu, world champion with the France team in 1998.”
I put it at the same level as him, because it has lasted over twelve years. It is exceptional what she does.
And it’s not finished yet. Make way for these 2021 Olympics in the favorite country of the Grangeons. “I hope this is a sign that will bring luck to Lara. What makes us really happy is to see that she is happy in what she does, she thrives, as well in the sport. , that her studies, and her love life, with a wonderful companion, who fully supports her “, his father confides.
–
