Tokyo (AFP)

Somewhat frustrated after Rio where its swimmer Aurélie Müller had been disqualified, the French open water swimming team is aiming for "two medals, including a title" in Tokyo with Marc-Antoine Olivier, bronze medalist at the last Olympic Games.

The Blues come to Japan "to excel," says the national technical director of open water swimming with the French Swimming Federation, Stéphane Lecat.

And everything has been done for: "an individualized preparation for each swimmer" (David Aubry in Montpellier, Marc-Antoine Olivier in the Sierra Nevada and Lara Grangeon in Font-Romeu), an early arrival in training in Japan to allow organizations to get used to the jet lag but also to the heat and humidity, and a hotel booked outside the Olympic Village, to avoid any health risk.

The particularity of the 10 km event, Wednesday for women and Thursday for men, is its very early start time (6.30 am local), not to mention the water temperature (around 30 to 31 degrees in Tokyo Bay) and high air humidity.

"Regarding the heat of the water, it's been four years that we analyze the physiological reactions of swimmers", hence the individualized preparations, explains Stéphane Lecat, for whom swimmers must also in these heat conditions watch out for "cooked frog syndrome".

This phenomenon means that when we immerse a body not used to heat in water, when the temperature rises due to the effort, there is a risk of not realizing it, of continuing to "s' shake in "until" the explosion ", he explains.

The preparation has therefore been optimized in order to give Marc-Antoine Olivier all his title chances who, since the 2016 Olympics, became vice-world champion in 2019 and in May won 2nd place at the European Championships in Budapest behind its great rival, the Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri, titled in Rio in the 1,500m freestyle and already silver medalist in the 800m in Tokyo.

The open water swimming event, 10 km race at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, program and location John SAEKI AFP

- Expected and favorite -

The Northerner will also have to be wary of the German Florian Wellbrock, reigning world champion and already bronze in Tokyo in the 1,500 m freestyle on Sunday, as well as the Olympic champion in Rio, the Dutch Ferry Weertman.

"The difference with Rio is that this time, he will be expected. But he will manage it very well, I have never seen him panic, he fully assumes this role", assures Stéphane Lecat.

In the women's race, Lara Grangeon, of which this is the third Olympic Games, "can really surprise us", adds the DTN.

The swimmer, who will celebrate her 30th birthday in September, admits it: she now has "more trouble recovering" between each training session, but has been able to adapt her program, by adding running, which makes her feel better. is used to "develop the power of (his) legs in the final sprint", and of boxing, because it fights quite a lot in the water, in particular at the passages of the buoys, and the swimmers can sometimes be "violent".

Lara Grangeon during the 25 km in open water of the European Championships, in Budakalasz in Hungary, on May 16, 2021 FERENC ISZA AFP / Archives

The three French qualified are trained by the media Philippe Lucas, ex-mentor of Laure Manaudou, "who brought a lot to open water": "his charisma, his requirement, his sense of organization but also results", explains Stéphane Lecat.

We must forget "his caricature of the guy who yells: he is very benevolent but without complacency" and, he smiles, "most of the time, he is very calm".

© 2021 AFP