They are all under 22 years old and gain experience with each dive during national or international competitions. The young swimmers of Olympique Nice Natation improve day by day and showcased it during the European Championships in Berlin. A future full of promise lies ahead for them.
Anna Santamans, 21 years old. Charlotte Bonnet, 19 years old. Marie Wattel, 17 years old, and Cloé Hache, 16 years old. For Olympique Nice Natation and the French team, the roster is young, promising, and with a long-term vision. This Monday evening, for the first day of the European Championships in Berlin, the 4x100m relay consisted of three members from Nice (plus Coralie Balmy), a sign of quality and confidence. The four girls finished in an honorable 5th place with a time of 3’40’’21, including good individual split times.
“We lose Camille (Muffat, retired), which means 2-3 seconds more on our time. I think we have a great team to build on for the future, this relay has potential,” exclaimed Charlotte Bonnet at the end of the 4x100m freestyle.
Marie Wattel, on her part, had a good first day for her debut at the European Championships, one year after the World Championships in Barcelona. The Nice native initially achieved the 10th fastest time in the heats with 26’’52, a new personal record. She even had the luxury of surpassing her friend and teammate Anna Santamans, who was 12th but the third French swimmer (a maximum of 2 swimmers per country in the semi-finals and finals). In the semi-final, Marie Wattel swam in 26’’68, the 12th best time, just 5 tenths away from qualifying for the final. A name to remember!
Charlotte Bonnet will truly enter the competition this Tuesday morning with the heats of the 100m freestyle, a distance to prepare for the 200m, her Berlin goal. She will be reunited with her training partners, Santamans and Hache, who will compete in their preferred distance.
“The start was a bit tough; it’s not easy to swim a 100m on the first day, especially in a relay final. I hope it will help me kick off the week well. I have good sensations in the water. My number one goal will be the 200m (heats on Friday, final on Saturday),” confided Charlotte Bonnet.
From our special correspondent in Berlin – Clément Bigois
