Saint-Raphaël (France) (AFP)

Florent Manaudou, who fulfilled the chronometric criterion to claim a ticket to the Tokyo Games in the first phase of Olympic qualification, but without accelerating as he wanted, insisted on the fact that he needs to put the package to training, Friday in Saint-Raphaël.

Q: You swam under the required time but you look frustrated ...

A: "I wanted to swim faster. I stopped three years (from the post-Olympics 2016 to spring 2019 precisely, editor's note), I played handball, and after training for ten weeks, I does exactly that time in the playoffs in Rome (in June 2019), with what the stress of a first competition involved, etc. I am lucky to have natural qualities that make me able to swim this time pretty much all the time, clearly not enough, the weather is not bad, but that's what I did all the time in preparation (during his "first" career, editor's note). It's my worst 50m (in the final) since I came back. I have to work more. I tire at a speed that does not allow me to go faster. It is not mechanical I think, No matter how much I look for things, it doesn't go any faster. I haven't yet mastered the 35m swim. I have it over 15, 20m, and after that it crumbles a bit. We are going to work for the large basin. "

Q: Doesn't the fact that you recently participated in the private ISL league for six weeks and that you have mainly raced in short courses since your return doesn't make you relativize?

A: "Since I came back, I was surprised in Rome (in June 2019, editor's note), where I swam well, I was surprised at the first ISL competition last year (early October), and in January in Luxembourg when I do 21.56. Since then, maybe I set myself goals too high, but I want to be honest with myself and with you, I really intended to do 21 sec 4 here, and I am disappointed because frankly, it's not enough. I just have to work a little, given the complicated year we had. There are six, seven months left, it's not too bad. "

Q: What do you need to be able to speed up?

A: "I'm going to shit in training, I know I need that. I want to be afraid of nothing in training, to be in pain. Now I'm ready. After, for sure in the morning when you will have to get up at 7 a.m. But that's really what I need, and I'm happy to say it too, because I'm a little lazy from time to time , and there, I have to work. For me, it's a slap because between 21 sec 4 and 21 sec 7, there is still a world. Frankly, I took a lot (these last time), as much by my results (at ISL and Saint-Raphaël) as by those of others (Caeleb Dressel in particular) who were next to me ... It's up to me to question myself. "

Interview in mixed zone.

© 2020 AFP