Back in Nice, the hometown child, Olympic champion in the 400-meter freestyle, silver medalist in the 200-meter freestyle, and bronze in the 4×200-meter freestyle, reflects on the London 2012 Olympic Games. Interview.
Camille, 10 years ago we were together in the sports-study swimming program at Parc Impérial. At that time, did you ever imagine reaching this level and winning so many medals?
I think that when we were just regular swimmers like you and me, we didn’t have those ambitions, especially before Laure Manaudou, Alain Bernard opened the way and raised the profile of swimming. Sure, we dreamed of being champions, but we couldn’t make a living from it or gain recognition. Becoming an Olympic champion, I started dreaming about it maybe five years ago. From that moment on, I trained, did everything possible to achieve it, and now, I have three Olympic medals around my neck, and it’s just extraordinary!
How did you experience these games?
I think for everyone it was a very good Olympic Games, we all succeeded quite well. Once swimming was over, and those three or four intense days, I began to discover the magic of the Olympic Games. Meeting other athletes, experiencing the Olympics as a spectator, being congratulated by people you admire…
Is this media exposure a pressure for you? How do you handle it?
It’s no longer pressure; the pressure was there all year.
In the Olympic Village, we were in our bubble, not realizing the excitement of the people. Then one day, you go out shopping, and French and even English people call you by your first name and tell you they saw you on TV and thought you were amazing.
The Olympics is a whole different dimension; for example, on Facebook, I had 4,000 fans before the Games, and now I have over 50,000! It’s crazy, I receive thousands of messages from boys and girls who want to meet me or are just happy, and it’s a pleasure to share with people.
The Olympics have just ended, what is your plan for the coming weeks? Rest, resumption of training?
No plan! Two weeks of vacation to take a break, be away, and enjoy some rest that I think is well-deserved.
After that, I don’t really know how things will go, but I don’t want to start training again right away… but I will return because I know I can do even better!
A few years ago, you complained about the city’s sports facilities. Do you think there has been progress? I believe the mayor announced an Olympic pool at the Charles Ehrman stadium?
For a while now, the city teams have been supporting us and doing more and more for the swimmers. It’s true it hasn’t always been easy, and several times we considered training in another city.
But now, the Mayor is committed to providing us with a real Olympic pool, and given our results, I think it will happen even faster.
It’s a great thing, especially for our coach and our structure, because we won’t be swimming for 20 years, and what’s being put in place today will serve future generations, and that’s really great.
