Second day of competition in Berlin and mixed fortunes for the Nice swimmers. The 100m freestyle smiled on Charlotte Bonnet, who qualified for the final on Wednesday evening, but Anna Santamans stopped in the semi-finals and Cloé Hache faded as early as the preliminary heats.
It was time for the Nice swimmers to dive back into the Berlin velodrome pool, after concluding a 4x100m relay on Monday evening with an encouraging 5th place. The schedule for this Tuesday included the 100m freestyle with the heats in the morning and the semi-finals in the evening session. Three of the four swimmers from Olympic Nice Natation were involved: Charlotte Bonnet, Anna Santamans, and Cloé Hache.
The rules stipulate that only two swimmers per nation can secure their spots for the semi-finals and then the final. Charlotte Bonnet, whose best distance is the 200m, did very well with the 7th fastest time in the heats (54.79 seconds). Anna Santamans, on her part, managed to advance by regulation with the 17th fastest time at 55.58 seconds, thus eliminating Cloé Hache who finished with the 28th fastest time at 56.64 seconds, far from her personal best (55.35 seconds).
The appointment was set for the evening semi-finals where the level quickly rises. The pleasant surprise came from Charlotte Bonnet who qualified for the final with the 8th and last fastest time (54.90 seconds).
“I’m happy to make it to the final but the time isn’t great, I hope it will go better tomorrow because I struggled a bit at the end. A final is a different race from the others because the semi-final is quite stressful. Tomorrow (this evening) I’ll need to shake off that stress and be more relaxed. In the final, I’d like to swim faster and get closer to my record, which is around 54.5 seconds,” Charlotte Bonnet confided after her semi-final.
On her end, Anna Santamans, “tired from the three 100m races in 24 hours,” did not make the cut and finished with the 16th fastest time at 55.77 seconds, slower than her morning heats. It’s now time for some rest and focusing on her goal, Saturday with the 50m freestyle, her favorite event.
From our special correspondent in Berlin – Clément Bigois
