Charlotte Bonnet perfectly concluded the very challenging week of the French Championships with a victory in the 100m freestyle. The Nice-native missed the qualification standard by two-tenths of a second but set her personal record.
Thus ends a tense week on a high note. Charlotte Bonnet leaves with what she came for: a yellow and green passport ready for boarding to Rio. Winner of the 200m freestyle on Friday with the qualifying standards, Fabrice Pellerin’s protégée could have swum this 100m without pressure, but she remained serious until the end.
Gold Act 2 and a personal record
Charlotte Bonnet approached this 100m freestyle, which is “not her favorite distance,” without real benchmark times this season apart from a 54’’37 in Amiens at the beginning of February. In control in the morning, she finished with the third fastest time in the heats at 55’’17. Well surrounded in the final with Béryl Gastaldello on her left and Mathilde Cini on her right, the Nice-native executed a phenomenal comeback to win in 53’’93, setting a new personal record by one-hundredth of a second. She missed by only 21 hundredths of a second to secure a second ticket to Rio. At mid-race, she needed to be a good tenth faster than the 25’’86 recorded.
“A great week”
After the race, the Olympic Nice Natation swimmer sported a big smile after concluding the week with two French Championship titles and a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke. “It’s been a great week, I’m happy. Qualifying in the 200m was a great challenge, not won in advance. In the 100m, I knew the ticket would be more complicated. I thought I could get closer to the qualifying standards; being two-tenths away is good. I am also happy to have gained speed for my 200m. The goal in Rio will be a medal, but there’s a lot of work to do,” she said on beinSports’ microphone.
Now it’s time for rest before a busy schedule (to be defined according to the swimmers) with the European Championships in London (May 16-22), Mare Nostrum (Monaco June 4-5 / Canet-en-Roussillon June 8-9 / Barcelona June 11-12) not to mention the Rome meeting (June 24-26).
The other Nice-native swimmers
On Saturday evening, Marie Wattel grabbed the bronze medal in the 50m butterfly (27’’03). Anna Santamans took 4th place just behind her. On Sunday, the butterfly specialist recorded the 12th time in the heats of the 100m freestyle (56’’75) before taking 4th place in the B final in 56’’63. Great performance from Anna Santamans, fourth in the final in 55’’11; she should be part of the “4x100m relay” adventure. Cloé Hache finished 7th in 55’’46 (8th in the heats at 55’’85).
