Between the elimination of Anna Santamans in the 50m freestyle heats and the disqualification of the 4x100m medley relay, Friday was a very difficult day.
Not a day for stepping outside in Nice. Friday, August 12, will not be remembered fondly by Olympic Nice Natation. While the start of the competition was very positive with Charlotte Bonnet’s Olympic final and the great performance of the 4x100m freestyle relay, the 50m freestyle and the 4x100m medley relay were far from shining.
Santamans’s Setback
Arriving with the 13th fastest entry time (an excellent 24’59 achieved at the French Championships in Montpellier), Anna Santamans never seemed to be in the race, finishing with the 6th fastest time in her heat. At the end of the 11 races in the first round, the verdict fell. With a time of 24’93, the doors to the semifinals remained closed; a time of 24’82 was needed to be among the 16 invited for the evening session.
Later, the sprinter coached by Maxime Leutenegger left a long message on her Facebook page explaining her setback, partly due to a difficult year both physically and mentally (see the full post in the sidebar).
False Start, Dream Shattered
The young French team of the 4x100m medley relay can have regrets. Gastaldello, Deberghes, Wattel, and Bonnet had the final within their grasp, but the stopwatch spoke…so did the judges. Marie Wattel, at the start of the 3rd relay, anticipated the start too much, making disqualification inevitable. A shame for a relay that is progressing with events and qualifying for finals in major competitions.
Photo Credit: KMSP / S.Kempinaire / FF Natation
