The French open water swimmers failed to climb on any podium at the end of the five events of the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka, a first for ten years. One year before the Olympic Games, they advocate for a “questioning”.
While Budapest had allowed the Blues to win two individual medals last year, the bay of Momochi Seaside Beachpark in Fukuoka (southwest of Japan) did not smile on the Blues. The French team was no match for the Germans (five medals including four titles) or the Italians (three medals).
In the absence of Marc-Antoine Olivier, not selected for disciplinary reasons, the best individual result came from the experienced Aurélie Muller, seventh in the 5 km, while the mixed relay could only take fifth place Thursday, far behind the Italian winners.
In the only distance on the program of the Olympic Games, the 10 km, the French Anastasiia Kirpichnikova and Océane Cassignol took 13th and 16th places, while Logan Fontaine and Sacha Velly finished 9th and 12th. “We got beat up,” then summed up Stéphane Lecat, the boss of French open water.
“We are inevitably disappointed, in the relay we expected to play for third place, and overall we are quite disappointed with (all) events”, admitted for his part the technical director of French swimming Julien Issoulié. “We will have to ask ourselves questions.”
At the end of the relay, the French swimmers did not hide their disappointment. “You have to face reality, we finish fifth because we simply don’t have the level,” said David Aubry, the last torchbearer of the day. “One year from the Games, we will have to question ourselves to perform next year.”
“It’s all very well to say that we are French and that the Games are at home, but precisely, you have to work,” he added.
After a few days of rest, the Blues will meet for an internship in Vichy, where they have planned to put things straight before the World Cup stage scheduled for Paris on August 5 and 6.
“We have to think about what happened and take it as an opportunity,” said Stéphane Lecat. “I prefer that this situation, we live it now rather than next year. If we had won one or two medals, maybe that would have hidden things.
After the disappointments of the men’s 10 km, the one who has been leading the tricolor open water since 2013 had tried to outline solutions, also calling for a questioning of everyone, staff, coaches and swimmers.
“Training isn’t just what you do in the pool and weight room, it’s also what you do outside. It’s a way of life to be a top athlete,” he said then.
“Training and preparation is daily, so (we have to ask ourselves) how do we optimize the quality swimmers we have,” he continued Thursday. “Because I sincerely think that we have quality swimmers.”
Asked about the axes to be worked on between now and the Games, Aurélie Muller, vice-world champion in the 5 km last year, was brief: “Everything. There is everything to review.”
