Victorious in 1 min 56 sec 47 in the Limoges swimming pool, Bonnet also qualified for the World and European Championships this summer.

"It's a long road but I see the end of the tunnel," she said after her run.

After more than ten years of collaboration, the 27-year-old swimmer had left her trainer in Nice Fabrice Pellerin to join the emblematic Philippe Lucas in Martigues in the fall.

A welcome change after the Tokyo Games where she had swum far from her best level, eliminated in the semi-finals of the 100 and 200 m.

"With Philippe, the feeling is going well, I regain confidence in myself," she explained.

"It's in my nature, I can never change my way of being, doubt, stress, anxiety, I will always have them. But the goal is to reduce as I go. works with Philippe and with my shrink”, she added.

"Philippe by my side, it's an accompaniment that helps me a lot, I feel that it changes me."

Second in the 400m freestyle at the French Championships on Tuesday, Bonnet must still line up in the 50m and 100m.

© 2022 AFP