And not the Olympic minimum of 1.07.21? “I'm not going to say thatreplies the Olympic bronze medalist in the 200m butterfly at the 1992 Olympics. We haven't sharpened ourselves as we could before the Games, but I see in Florine a swimmer who is 90% fit. We changed the way we prepared a little; we had a lot of rest. But from what I've seen over the last three weeks, she's going fast when you have to swim fast. I would like her to improve her times this weekend.”
Especially since Florine Gaspard, who will be able to aim for a big time in the 100m breaststroke during the French championships in June, had a more difficult period following her Olympic qualification.
She and I went to battle once or twice in January. It's normal !
“She had a hard time getting back into the thick of thingsindicates Franck Esposito. The whole month of January was difficult. There was a lot of euphoria after qualifying for the Games, and that's normal: it's really a childhood dream. I admit that she and I clashed once or twice in January, which is normal; It's part of the game. She then understood that she was not right and she got back to work in February, on an internship in Tenerife. Since then it’s great, I found the Florine from before, someone very motivated.”
Florine Gaspard after qualifying for the Games: “I cried with joy all evening”
A swimmer classified as a breaststroke specialist who surprised everyone last December by qualifying for the Olympics in front crawl.
“From September to November, she sprinted really hard and when we saw her swim 25.1 at the US championships even though she was out of shape, we said to ourselves that there was something to be done.says the French coach. The day before the 50 crawl in Amiens, after seeing her do two or three exercises, I returned to the Marseille group and said: tomorrow, she's doing it. You could see it, it was transpiring! Something happened at that moment, something clicked. That's how swimming is sometimes. And if Florine gains confidence in herself, she will really swim very quickly…”
