Four gold medals at the French synchronized swimming championships in April, a bronze medal then a second at the European Championships in Alicante in July then a placement in the world top 5 after the Quebec World Cup: the titles of the young swimmer from Bastia, already very substantial, it has expanded considerably in recent months.
But if these innate swimmer skills are indisputable, Manon Venturi has shown that it is only at the cost of a thousand sacrifices and constant and sustained work that such results can be obtained.
And sacrifices, little Manon, passionate about this discipline, made in watching the 2012 Olympics on TV.
“I had a flash on this discipline. I was in ballet at the time, my mother is a teacher and I love the water. For me it was therefore the ideal sport, the bonus of dancing in the water. So my mother went to look for a club in Bastia and at the age of 5 and a half I started at the Fun Beluga in Bastia. Since I was doing well, I was quickly upgraded. At first it was fun for me, but when I joined the competitive group I got caught up in the game: from two training sessions of a few hours a week I went to 15 hours a week. I practiced alone on 2’30 music I liked” he explained to us recently.
Then it all happened very quickly.
In 2018, during the French summer solo championships, she finished first in her club. In the process, the coach of PAN (Pays d’Aix Natation) asked him to join Aix-en-Provence. Manon Venturi, who celebrated her 16th birthday on 14 August, took the time to reflect before responding positively to Aix’s request.
Leaving Bastia, his family, his parents, his friends when we were just ten years old, it wasn’t easy
“But I didn’t have much time to think, to meditate between school, I was in fifth grade, and the 25 hours of sports a week.”
But Manon resisted. And progressed.
She excelled at the French championships. She was kept in the French team. Medal. Then again medal. In recent months you have reoffending nationwide. Then European. Before entering the world top 5 in her category.
An infernal journey for the girl from Bastia who will have known how to reconcile her talent for dance and artistic swimming and which nothing seems to stop: a few days ago she had a new and extensive collection of medals at the French championships.