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Baptiste Hue
Published on
Dec 28 2024 at 9:24 a.m.
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The 27e edition of New Year's Eve meeting takes place these Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 December 2024 in Saint-Lô (Manche).
Interview for the occasion with Eric Touzé, president of the departmental swimming committee.
La Manche has long trained leading young swimmers, which is no longer the case today. How do you explain this?
There are several reasons. We have notably lost dynamism at the management level. Iconic, passionate coaches have stopped like Fabien Chiboust and Lysiane Moriaux in Cherbourg, Raphaël Rigot in Les Pieux, Bruno Lucas in Saint-Lô… Only coaches who offered quality sessions, who generated gems, who did not count their hours . There are still coaches who do things well, but perhaps less than before. And the coaching plays a huge role.
Why did they stop?
Perhaps they are less motivated because the swimmers themselves are less invested. Before, young people were more present in the pools, some swimming 16 hours a week. But this is no longer in keeping with the times. Swimming is a sport that requires a large volume of training with, ideally, twice-daily sessions. The new generations no longer want that. We are less in the culture of performance at all costs. Parents also invest less, they push their children less.
“There are three thankless sports”
It’s difficult to swim 16 hours a week when you’re at school…
But, precisely, nothing is done to create time, to provide the means to generate talent. We had a great showcase with the Olympics, but I agree with Florent Manaudou when he says that France is not a sports country. For swimming, access to the pools is not easy, the slots are restricted. We are faced with this. We are also suffering from declining demographics and the aging Manche population. The base of the pyramid narrows. And there are so many other less strenuous sports. When they reach high school, many good young swimmers move on to more “leisure” activities. We observe a big drop at this age.
Has swimming become an anachronistic discipline?
Completely. For me, there are three thankless sports, three self-sacrificing sports where you need a strong mind to last: swimming, cycling and gymnastics. It takes a terrible requirement to be able to perform at a minimum. And fewer and fewer accept it. Fortunately, there are exceptions like Inès Delacroix who is fully involved and focused on the 2028 Olympics. It has become rare to find a swimmer like her capable of putting in so many hours of training.
“A drop in licensees in Nord-Cotentin”
Does the number of licensees remain good?
We are falling a little, particularly in Nord-Cotentin, with clubs at a standstill (Les Pieux), dormant (Querqueville) or restructuring (Aquatic club Cotentin). But we are maintaining a good overall level. However, there is a turnover of 30% each year in the clubs. And the new licenses mainly concern those over 30 and few those under 10. Masters get into the game of competition late in life, but that's not how we build the swimming of tomorrow.
Does school swimming act as a gateway to clubs?
I have been a PE teacher for 40 years, and there have never been so many medical certificates for not playing sports at school, particularly swimming. In a swimming class, there is always between 10 and 30% absenteeism. There is the fear of water, the fear of showing one's body, questions of religion sometimes, the pretext of menstruation… Before, we didn't accept that.
A meeting in great shape
If Manchoise swimming does not currently have the wind at its back, fortunately there are still organizations that are doing well like the New Year's End Meeting. Created by Philippe Briout, this event is intended as “a showcase for Manche and Normandy swimming” according to Eric Touzé, director of the departmental committee for 10 years. The former PE teacher at Saint-Joseph college in Cherbourg is delighted to see the participation of 278 swimmers, from 41 clubs from all over France. On the other hand, he does not expect miracles from the Manche side. “Maybe among the youngest… But there is a national level, it’s very high,” he warns.
Program: Saturday and Sunday: morning from 8:15 a.m., afternoon from 3:30 p.m. At the aquatic center.
Are you worried about the future of your sport?
No, not worried. Swimming is still a sport recommended for health, for the fight against drowning. We will always have people in the pools, children will always learn to swim. But, I repeat, the performance aspect is diminishing. In the Channel, some swimmers are still competing in some national competitions. But there is no longer anyone at level N1 and even N2. We can no longer produce champions in the Channel.
“Our elected officials have no ambitions for swimming”
This problem is not specific to the Channel…
No. But, there is a dynamic elsewhere that we do not find here, particularly in Brittany. In the English Channel, there is not a single 50-meter pool! Yet we fought for it. But we prefer to stick to what exists. Valognes has just opened a swimming pool, but it does not tick the boxes of the federation for hosting competitions. These are infrastructures designed by elected officials who do not understand the subject. In Cherbourg, we preferred to rehabilitate Chantereyne rather than build a 50-meter pool. Our elected officials have no ambitions for swimming. A lot of credit is given to other sports, but not swimming. It will take a very long time to change mentalities.
Are you hoping for a Léon Marchand effect?
For the moment, we don't see it. In this regard, without Léon Marchand, French swimming would have gone unnoticed in Paris. There is no popular momentum around swimming. Apart from Léon Marchand, the general public is unable to name five French swimmers at present.
La Manche has 2,316 swimmers licensed in clubs (including 1,338 women), but only 773 competitors. There were 2,784 licensees last year, 3,059 three years ago.
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