The swimmers from Olympic Nice Natation had a challenging first day at the world championships. Marie Wattel was quickly eliminated in the 100m butterfly heats, but Bonnet-Hache-Santamans responded in the 4x100m freestyle relay with a qualification and an eighth-place finish in the final.
As often, it was the relay that allowed the French team and the Nice swimmers to regain their composure. With the eighth-fastest time in the heats at 3’38″35, Charlotte Bonnet, Cloé Hache, Béryl Gastaldello, and Anna Santamans secured their spot in the evening final by just 12 hundredths of a second. For this team, whose average age is barely 20, it’s a real asset. Swimming alongside the Dutch, Swedish, Danes, and others will be beneficial for the years to come. Yes, this French women’s team is making great progress, working long-term under the guidance of Fabrice Pellerin, a renowned French coach and beyond.
In the final, there were no surprises for the almost-Nice quartet, since Béryl Gastaldello used to represent ONN before heading to Marseille and then to the American University of Texas. In lane number 8, the French team finished eighth, just like in the morning heats with a slightly higher time of 3’38″46. The race allowed 17-year-old Cloé Hache to gain more experience, Anna Santamans to settle in, and Charlotte Bonnet to kickstart her championships successfully.
“The contract is fulfilled. We are in the final, in lane 8, we had nothing to lose. It’s a rather good start. And at the end, there’s the qualification for the Olympic Games (the 8 finalists secure their spot for Rio),” said the French relay swimmers to Canal+Sport’s microphone.
Marie Wattel, interviewed by Nice Premium about ten days ago, had great hopes for her favorite distance, the 100m butterfly. But in her only individual event, she didn’t achieve her goal of qualifying for the semi-finals, finishing with the 21st time in the heats at 58″84, nearly five-tenths off her personal record from the French Championships in Limoges (58″32). Once again, after Berlin, her difficulty in swimming very fast early in the morning (heats at 9:30 am local time) worked against her. However, it’s another experience that will be useful for the future as the Nice swimmer is only 17 years old…
“58”8 this morning, not enough to make it into the top 16 (58″48). Naturally, my eyes were a bit shiny coming out of the water. I really hoped I could swim the semi-final, unfortunately, the level is still too high, and the stakes were perhaps too great for me. It makes me want to work very hard for next year! I still have the relay(s) left to try and do better,” posted Marie Wattel on her Facebook page after the race.
Photo credit: Fédération Française de Natation
