The Nice swimming scene has never been better, and the performances of its Elite group will be able to flourish at the dawn of the new season that is beginning. In sight, of course, are the 2012 London Olympic Games, but before that, they will have to swim laps with the greatest possible success. Nice Premium spoke with Richard Papazian, General Director of the Olympic Nice Natation, who shares his insights on this new season.
“After two good months of training, the 8 swimmers of the ONN Elite group are kicking off the 2011 season. More motivated than ever by their results from last summer, our team, led by Camille Muffat and Yannick Agnel, is eager to get back to competition.
Guided by values instilled by the ONN to jointly develop studies and sports, our swimmers are preparing with calmness and humility for upcoming national and international events, always with more effort and enjoyment.
We are very happy to gather so many promising talents of French Swimming within the Club, only 2 years after implementing our “London 2012” project, which aims to qualify 3 to 5 swimmers for the next Olympic Games.
In 2012, Nice’s swimming will be 100 years old. Coincidence or not, we can always imagine a fireworks display of Nice medals!!! But, faithful to our commitments, we remember that there are no lasting performances without training, which is the source of our guarantee of success.”
The 2011 team: 21 international medals during the summer of 2010
· Yannick AGNEL (18 years): 2010 European Champion in 400m Freestyle, European Vice-Champion in 4x100m Freestyle, and bronze medalist in 4x200m Freestyle. Holder of 5 titles at the 2010 European Junior Championships.
· Charlotte BONNET (15 years): Bronze medalist at the 2010 European Junior Championships in 4x100m Freestyle. Holder of the best French performances in her age category.
· Béryl GASTALDELLO (15 years): Double bronze medalist at the 2010 European Junior Championships in 50m Freestyle and 4x100m Freestyle. Holder of the best French performances in her age category.
· Clément LEFERT (23 years): 2010 European Champion in 4x100m Medley Relay, bronze medalist in 4x200m Freestyle. World finalist and Olympic selected. Holder of the French record in 100m Butterfly.
· Camille MUFFAT (21 years): Bronze medalist at the 2010 European Championships in 4x200m Freestyle and at the 2008 European Championships in 200m Medley, world and Olympic finalist, holder of the French records in 200m Medley and 400m Medley.
· Aleksandra PUTRA (23 years): European Champion in 200m Backstroke in short course in 2008. Selected for Olympic and world competitions. Multiple medalist at the French Championships.
· Magali ROUSSEAU (22 years): Selected for the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships in 200m Butterfly. Multiple medalist at the French Championships.
· Anna SANTAMANS (17 years): Youth Olympic Champion in 50m Freestyle in 2010, bronze medalist in 50m Butterfly and 4x100m Freestyle. French Youth Champion and holder of the best French performances in her age category.
· Guillaume STROHMEYER (25 years): Winner of the 2009 Mediterranean Games in 4x200m Freestyle. French Champion and multiple medalist at the French Championships.
The competition calendar up to Strasbourg
· 1/11: Nico Sapio Trophy GENOA (Italy)
· 5 to 7/11: World Cup STOCKHOLM (Sweden) for C.Muffat, Y.Agnel, A.Santamans
· 13 and 14/11: Antibes Interclubs
· 25 to 28/11: European Championships (25m) EINDHOVEN (Netherlands) for A.Putra, A.Santamans
· 3 to 5/12: French Championships (25m) CHARTRES
· 15 to 19/12: World Championships (25m) DUBAI (UAE) for C. Muffat, Y.Agnel, C.Lefert
· 17 to 19/12: French Youth Championships (25m) PARIS for C.Bonnet, B.Gastaldello, A.Santamans
· 26/12 to 2/01: Conditioning camp, location to be determined
· 21 to 23/01: International Meeting NANCY
· 11 to 12/02: National Meeting NICE
· 20/02 to 6/03: Training camp in PRETORIA (South Africa)
· 11 to 13/03: National Meeting NIMES
· 22 to 27/03: French Championships in STRASBOURG (qualifiers for the World Championships in Shanghai).
Fabrice Pellerin’s comment: “More work than ever until Christmas”
“Since the training resumed on September 6, commented Fabrice Pellerin, coach of the ONN Elite group, we have focused our work on development. Each swimmer has dedicated themselves to improving their physical, technical and physiological qualities, with an unprecedented training volume. Yannick, in particular, has doubled his workload, moving to two daily sessions compared to just one last year. To optimize this development phase, which will extend until Christmas, we have chosen to limit travel to stay in Nice in an environment conducive to training and recovery. Our first outing will thus be on November 1, for a meeting we are well familiar with, as we have attended it for the past three years. The atmosphere is warm and the level interesting, with foreign swimmers of very high caliber. This competition, and the ones that follow (Interclubs, French Championships, and World Championships in short course), will be approached with the same mindset, aiming to perform well in a full work period. These four months of development form the foundation of the upcoming season, and they will be uncompromising. The group trains with the same goals of excellence, the leaders as well as the youngest, all with the Olympic targets of London and Rio. This is the strength of this group: Sharing a common adventure where each one draws inspiration from another, taking what will allow them to raise their level. And, contrary to what one might think, it is not always the most experienced who influence the youngest!”
