Clément Mignon, his 4 x 100 m NL comrade had warned.
"If he swims like that, he is not immune to coming back a medalist", slipped the Marseillais about Maxime Grousset, 22, after the 47''52 of the Amiens (personal record largely beaten) during the first stint.
Amazing in the pool of the Aquatics Center, the sprinter of Insep, qualified in extremis for the final, missed the medal but did not lose anything. In a race dominated by the American star Caeleb Dressel (47′'02, new Olympic record), the New Caledonian, who started in lane 8, signed a nice fourth place (47′'72).
“I looked at the board and saw fourth.
I was very happy because at the base I was eighth, smiles the Habs.
A little frustrated to be at the foot of the podium but to get the place of third, I had to raise another notch
(Editor's note: he is almost 3 / 10th of the Russian Kolesnikov)
and it was a little more complicated.
We thought I had to try something.
I was outside, so I went all out.
At the end it was normal, we said:
we are in Japan, we do hara-kiri!
I cracked and that's what makes Chalmers
(Editor's note: finally 2nd) come
back up and far exceeds me.
I have no more energy.
"
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In recent months, the student of Michel Chrétien, "scheduled" for the 2024 Games in Paris, has grilled the stages.
“I was able to acquire maturity, serenity, especially on the 100 m that I mastered less (Editor's note: compared to the 50).
I don't put on negative stuff, it's pure fun.
Swimming is hard.
6.45 a.m. dry warm-up, 7.00 a.m. in the water, then weight training and return to the water in the afternoon.
It's really repetitive and off-putting.
So you have to have fun in competition.
And I'm taking even more now that I've raised my level.
"
"I'm super proud of myself"
Grousset realizes how far he has come. "I approached with a lot of excitement to be able to do this race with the champions," he says. I was able to confront them and I think I am one of the best now. It was already a kid's dream to make a final. Being in the four, I'm super proud of myself. I still have a very small notch left to get over it and get on the podium. I am not far behind. "
To improve, the former resident of the Caledonian Swimmers Circle, who arrived in Amiens in 2016, is watching videos of the best swimmers on the planet.
"Them, I don't think they're looking at me given the margin there is at the moment," he smiled before plunging into the Tokyo pool.
“They might know who I am now but that doesn't mean they watch my videos, they're still much better than me,” jokes the young man before leaving the mixed zone.
💥 Caeleb Dressel, new Olympic champion in the 100m freestyle!
The American torpedo beats the Olympic record in 47.02, Maxime Grousset finishes in a promising 4th place.
Vibrate in front of the #Olympic Games of # Tokyo2020 on Eurosport https://t.co/uggwqWOjy9 pic.twitter.com/3wSbWdt9ZF
- Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) July 29, 2021
Taking a look at Dressel's impressive left arm, who was responding next to him to the American press, the Frenchman may have found a new key to scavenging for hundredths.
“I see the best all have tattoos,” he slips.
Apparently, it must make you swim fast!
But hey, for the moment, this is not a project ... "
In June, at the French Championships in Chartres, the physiotherapy student, double defending champion in the 100 m NL, ended nine years of invincibility for Florent Manaudou over 50 m NL in France. The two men will meet again from Friday night for the one-way playoffs. “I don't know, I worked a lot in the 100m but I saw that I could do a good 50, so why not? He says. I will try to do better and better as I did in the 100m. The week of Grousset, whose race was followed on a giant screen in Nouméa, is already largely successful. But it is far from over ...
