Cyrille Gualbert’s club will send eight swimmers to the French 25m Short Course Championships, which begin on Thursday. The goal is to win medals, but also for Analia Pigrée and Pauline Mahieu in particular, to qualify for the world championships in Australia in December.
This is the beginning of an adventure that should end in just over two years. The Canet swimmers, and above all the two champions of the club, Analia Pigrée, European champion in the 50 backstroke this summer and Pauline Mahieu, medal in the 4 * 100 medley relay, begin what will undoubtedly be the greatest challenge of their career : preparation for the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024. If the French Olympic meeting is not tomorrow, it is already the main concern of the moment for the two swimmers.
With this in mind, the first stage crosses the French short cycle championships, which begin this Thursday in Chartres, and will last until Sunday. The competition will qualify for the December world championships in Australia. And for the two young swimmers of the French team, all international competitions represent a considerable wealth of experience in view of their Olympic goal. “There are several problems in these leagues, warns Cyrille Gualbert, Canet’s coach, who, besides Pigrée and Mahieu, brings eight swimmers to Eure-et-Loir. Yes, it is the resumption of competitions in small pools since there were no French championships with Covid. The goal for everyone is to get their best performance with the most finals and medals. “
And the coach to mention the names of Margaux Fabre and Marina Jehl, along with his two summer medalists, to perform.
Qualify for the Melbourne World Cup
“But the ambition is also to qualify for an international team”, warns Canet’s coach. For Pauline Mahieu, half of the way is already done. The Catalan has already reached the necessary time, ten days ago, during the World Cup in Berlin. “But since only sixteen swimmers will be selected, nothing is certain”, she warns. In fact, for this winter meeting on the other side of the world, the Federation has decided to send only a small panel of competitors.
To secure your place, it is therefore advisable to qualify over several distances. For Pauline Mahieu, will be the 100 and the 200 back. For Analia Pigrée, the 50 and 100 back. The latter, a little less in shape than her partner in Berlin at the World Championships, is coming out of intense preparation in Font-Romeu, and is preparing to return to 100m, a distance she had not swam for a year, due to a bad shoulder injury.
Beyond the performance, these appointments will be an opportunity to validate the substantial work carried out underwater for several months. The installation of underwater cameras in the Canet basin now allows staff to better analyze the flows. “On a 25-meter pool there is an extra lap, it’s a good way to evaluate technical progress, but also to work on breathing”, warns Cyrille Gualbert.
Another step, this time technical, necessary to take the right path to Paris …
Canet swimmers competing
Louna Candelon: 50 m two, 100 m two and 200 m two.
Margaux Fabré: 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m butterfly.
Marina Jehl: 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 100m medley.
Pauline Maheu : 50 m two, 100 m two and 200 m two.
Analia Pigree: 50 m two and 100 m two.
Beatrice Radovici: 50 m two, 100 m two and 200 m two.
Clarence Bernabé: 50 m butterfly, 100 m butterfly, 200 m butterfly and 200 m mixed.
William Roux: 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle and 1500m freestyle.
