Charlotte Bonnet will experience her first individual Olympic final in the 200m freestyle this Tuesday. With a time of 1’56″38, the Nice native achieved the seventh-best time in the semi-finals. In the final, she has nothing to lose.
The race of a lifetime, or almost. This Tuesday evening, around 10:15 PM in Brazil (3:15 AM French time), Charlotte Bonnet will be on the starting block for her very first Olympic final, in her favorite event, the 200m freestyle. A second goal achieved after the final and the French record in the 4x100m freestyle relay on the first night.
In the semi-final, facing “Olympic” adversity, Bonnet modeled her race on the Australian, McKeon. Slower than in the heats, the Nice native swam a magnificent second 50m to take the lead at the halfway mark. Proof of a certain form and also maturity, the young French star finished very strong to touch in third position with a new time around 1’56” (1’56″38, 12 hundredths slower than the morning, 7th time in the semi-finals).
“I wanted to swim faster but I’m satisfied, it will be my first individual Olympic final,” said Charlotte Bonnet in the mixed zone.
A successful morning
Fabrice Pellerin’s protégé didn’t slack off. From the noon heats, Charlotte Bonnet confirmed her good form with the fourth time (1’56″25), very close to her personal record (1’56″16 in Canet in June 2015). The Nice native even allowed herself the luxury of challenging the Swedish Sarah Sjöström, only missing by two-tenths.
“I felt well. I wanted to start fast and stick with the others,” declared Charlotte Bonnet on Canal Plus. “I’m happy to achieve the 4th time even if there are things to improve for the semi-final.”
