It’s official, Charlotte Bonnet is going to Rio! As the winner of the 200m freestyle with a time of 1’56″32, the Nice native has achieved the qualifying time for the Olympic Games. This long-awaited performance concludes a very promising first part of the 2016 season.
Green and yellow are Charlotte Bonnet’s new favorite colors. Yes, the auriverde (which means gold and green in Brazilian) suits her so well. On August 5, the protégé of Fabrice Pellerin will proudly parade in blue-white-red at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, four years after the London episode where she won the bronze medal in the 4x200m freestyle.
On her way to a second Olympiad
In a tense and stressful atmosphere at the Antigone pool in Montpellier, every great performance deserves applause. Forty-eight hours after the qualification of her friend but also rival Coralie Balmy, Charlotte Bonnet secures her ticket to the Olympics. Starting quickly, very quickly, she completed the first 100m in 56”20, ahead of the “checkpoint” times for qualification. At the 150m mark, the atmosphere becomes heavy as the swimmer from ONN seems to be struggling. The relief comes at the touch, with the clock showing 1’56″32, which is 46 hundredths better than the minimum required by the federation. Bonnet takes a few seconds to realize, Balmy, in second place, beams a wide smile and later admits to beingSports: “I looked at Charlotte’s time before my place and my time.”
“Thrilled!”
As she exits the pool, all you can see is the smile of the Nice native: “I am thrilled, going to Rio is amazing! Since I know I have a weaker return, I decided to start quickly. I cracked at the end, but it doesn’t matter,” she says to the microphone of beIN Sports.
She’s nearing her personal best
After clocking 1’57″53 in Nice, then 1’56″73 in Amiens, which was the qualifying time, and finally 1’57″17 in Marseille, Charlotte Bonnet confirms an “Olympic” form. This Friday in the Hérault, she came within two-tenths of her personal best. To make it to the Olympic finals or aim higher, she will need to improve this time by about two seconds. Charlotte Bonnet and Fabrice Pellerin have approximately 13 weeks left to find the keys to “the feat.”
Noteworthy is the fourth place for Cloé Hache with a time of 1’59″70. The youngest of ONN and the French team seems to have regained good sensations. She is provisionally securing a ticket for the 4x200m relay if the French Swimming Federation validates the tickets next Wednesday.
The other results of the day
The big awaited race, the queen race as we like to call it, is always the 100m. After the morning heats, we anticipated one of the most beautiful races in the history of the French championships, and it didn’t disappoint. Jérémy Stravius slightly surprises the specialists with the title and a time of 47″97 ahead of…Clément Mignon, with whom he will depart for Rio. The overwhelming favorite, Florent Manaudou, finishes 3rd, missing qualification by 9 hundredths. Yannick Agnel finishes in 7th place.
In the 200m breaststroke, Laura Paquit creates a surprise and denies Fanny Deberghes a second title after her win in the 100m breaststroke ahead of Charlotte Bonnet. A big surprise in the men’s 100m breaststroke where the title eludes Giacomo Perez Dortona for the first time since 2011. Another swimmer from CN Marseille, Theo Bussière, takes the win with a time of 1’01″38. Nobody will go to the European Championships in London for this event. In the 50m backstroke, the morning heats give the French championship title. The only swimmer with international reference times, Mathilde Cini, logically wins in 28″58.
Photo credit: Stéphane Kempinaire / KMSP / French Swimming Federation
