As part of the “1, 2, 3, Swim!” program, twenty-six young people swam, Wednesday June 19, at L’Odyssée, in Chartres, in the pools of the French swimming championships. There they found Grégory Mallet, silver medalist at the Beijing and London Olympic Games.
Co-financed by Paris 2024, the French Swimming Federation (FFN), the National Sports Agency and EDF, “1, 2, 3, Swim!” aims to act for the prevention of drowning and the water safety of children.
“There are on average 1,000 drownings per year, a third of which are deaths. We therefore embarked on this operation to raise awareness and launch a learning process among young people,” explained Yann Le Borgne, regional communications manager at EDF. , in front of the fifty meter pool. “There is a notion of pleasure in swimming, but also a notion of risks,” he added. “And we realize today that many young people do not know how to swim.” Born in 2021, the program is expanding nationally.
Our file on the French swimming championships in Chartres
Twenty-six young people, aged five to eight
It was on this occasion that on Wednesday, “twenty-six young people from the Chartres club, aged five to eight years old, set out to learn how to swim. Today (Wednesday, Editor’s note), this is the highlight of the show, because they have the opportunity to demonstrate their new skills in the French championship pools, alongside Grégory Mallet,” explained Yann Le Borgne.
After attending the series of the French championships the same morning, “so that they can see what it is possible to do when you know how to swim” indicated Yann Le Borgne, the children went to put on their outfits. Then, sitting in the stands, they met Grégory Mallet, former athlete of the French swimming team. After the presentations, the swimmer quickly shared his journey with the children. And surprise! The young people had the opportunity to see his two silver medals up close: the one he won at the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, and that of the London Olympic Games in 2012.
At the water !
After a warm-up in the fifty-meter pool, two teams of thirteen were formed for a relay: the blue team, with Grégory Mallet, and the green team with Adrien Pons, the children’s coach.
“Let’s race!” exclaimed a spectator. At the top start, it was Grégory Mallet and Adrien Pons who set off. Then the children took over. For nearly eighteen minutes, the two teams competed fiercely. The youngest, for safety reasons, were accompanied by teenagers from the club to swim the fifty meters. It was only at the very end that the blue team stood out.
“It is necessary to transmit the love of water”
The event ended with a medal presentation for all the children and a signing session. “It was a pleasure to share this moment and to see the children so invested,” declared Grégory Mallet. “When I have the opportunity to participate in this operation, I respond, because it is necessary to transmit love water, swimming, and knowing how to swim.”
Athénaé, nine years old, chose to do the breaststroke to swim the fifty meters. “Towards the end, it was a little hard,” she confided, with a smile on her lips, near her father whom she was happy to see again.
Albane Tanter and Violette Pezin
