The traditional New Year’s greetings presentation by the Olympic Nice Natation was also an opportunity for the club to honor its best swimmers during a friendly ceremony among members, educators, and volunteers.
The trophies are counted once again, the last pieces of Galettes des Rois are being cut, microphone tests echo around the pool, everything is ready to begin the “Olympic Nice Natation Champions Trophy 2019” awards. Some young members have just finished their training. Accompanied by their parents, they hurry into the stands to hear the thank-you speech from the club President, Jean Monnot.
During the evening, a total of 220 trophies will be distributed, rewarding performances recorded from September 1, 2017, to August 31, 2018. These are being presented by Richard Papazian (general manager of ONN and deputy municipal sports advisor) and other members of the City of Nice’s Sports Department.
And there was quite a crowd on the podium at the Jean Bouin pool, starting with the first athletes honored in swimming. Charlotte Bonnet, European champion in the 200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle, and 4x100m mixed freestyle, and bronze medalist in the 100m freestyle in Glasgow, Scotland, received a trophy recognizing her fantastic year.
Jérémy Stravius was also present, competing in four swimming styles at the Lausanne Swim Cup in December 2018, the 2012 Olympic champion, finished at the top of all the races he participated in. Nothing surprising perhaps for an accomplished swimmer of his level, but such versatility had to be celebrated this evening.
Jordan Potain, Jérémy Desplanches, and Charles Rihoux completed this podium, accompanied by their coach Fabrice Pellerin. As with the seniors, the young hopefuls of Azur swimming also received their small trophies.
Four other aquatic disciplines of the Olympic Nice Natation also celebrated their small and big champions: water polo, artistic swimming, diving, and triathlon. With successive parades of the different male and female sections, to the great delight of parents who came to capture this moment on the podium of the Palais des Sports Jean Bouin.
Yassine Said Hassane
