On June 21, the French Swimming Federation made official the selection of Roman Fuchs for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The Dijon native, a high-level swimmer at INSEP in Paris, licensed with the Amiens Métropole Natation club, will compete in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games alongside other swimmers such as Wissam-Amazigh Yebba and Yann Le Goff, originally from Rennes and also qualified.
For Roman Fuchs, it is a dream come true: “It’s an immense joy. To do the Olympic Games is my dream since always. Since I started training it’s been my goal” he explains. But getting this qualification required a lot of preparation. : “It’s a relief, it’s 20 years of work that are finally paying off.” With his teammates, the objective is clear: “The final. The gold medal will be complicated, but we are aiming for at least the bronze medal”predicts the swimmer.
Individual qualification narrowly missed
Unfortunately, Roman Fuchs will not be participating in the individual events. On June 16, during the French championships in Chartres, the Dijon native narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Olympic Games individually. In the 200-meter freestyle, his favorite discipline, he finished just off the podium: “I finished 4th, so I had no chance of qualifying individually for the Games. I regret it a little, because it’s really because of the stress. I was playing for my Olympic qualification, so I think that behind the block, me like all the other swimmers, we were stressed, that day, I didn’t swim at my best level.”
Five to six hours of training per day
This team qualification therefore has a very special flavour for the Dijon swimmer, who is doing everything he can to be there. “I train about 35 hours a week, which is roughly five to six hours a day.” says Roman Fuchs, who is going through the different training phases: “Right now we’re in a sharpening phase, that is to say a less intense period where we can recover and take time for ourselves. Sleep, go out in town or go to the cinema.”
Two weeks before the start of the Olympic Games, Roman Fuchs and the French team will go to Vichy to complete their preparation: “This training will allow us to get into our bubble, we will be completely focused on the Olympic Games” he concludes.
