A year later, almost to the day, the Elite group of Mulhouse Olympic Natation leaves Font-Romeu and its altitude training center (1850 m) to find the plain. But this time, it is not to confine oneself as in March 2020.
Even if the health situation continues to maintain a heavy and persistent artistic vagueness, the MON swimmers will put their luggage in Marseille this Thursday, in view of the Golden Tour stage to be held there from Friday to Sunday, with in ticket game for the European Championships (May 17-23 in Budapest) and the Olympic Games (July 23-August 8 in Tokyo).
“They deserve to be rewarded”
However, only five Mulhousians – out of the ten who participated in the oxygenation course in the Catalan Pyrenees – will be seated on the starting blocks of this Mediterranean Open. And for good reason: the gauge being limited to 280 athletes, including a hundred foreigners, the selection was made on the basis of the best World Performance Index (IMP), like at the Nice meeting a month and a half ago.
But unlike at the Riviera meeting , a real rise in power is expected this time. “The idea is to play the game thoroughly and to get as close as possible to the best level of each one”, explains Lionel Horter, the head coach of MON. “Us, we planned above all on the deadlines of June (Editor’s note: the French championships, last folding seat to Tokyo) and I think we were right. But the internship at Font-Romeu, even if it was shorter (ten days against three weeks usually), will necessarily be beneficial and constitute an excellent breeding ground for the work that awaits us behind. In this kind of case, we can sometimes witness nice surprises. “
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A girl and four boys are concerned this time: the Swiss Fanny Borer and the four musketeers Antoine Marc , Clement Bidard , Hugo Grosjean and Tom Hug-Dreyfus. “Their state of mind since the start of the year has been exceptional,” says their coach. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a band work like this. They deserve to be rewarded, really. “
Four other Alsatians will be there until Sunday: Léo Palfray (AC Molsheim-Mutzig) and the “expatriates” Adeline Furst (Dauphins du Toulouse OEC), Louise Lefebvre (Olympic Nice) and Matéo Girardet (CN Marseille).
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