The athlete licensed at Stade Lavallois Natation will be closely scrutinized this Thursday, at the French Elite Championships in the 25m pool in Chartres. Tetyana Afanasyeva, a 13-year-old Ukrainian swimmer, arrived in France in March with her mother to flee the war. The young girl excels in her discipline and will participate until Saturday in her French swimming championships. A competition in which foreign delegations can participate.
One of the youngest swimmers
It’s an unprecedented opportunity for the young Ukrainian, explains her trainer Léa Pineau. “She will face swimmers like Florent Manaudou or Charlotte Bonnet__, who will also be present at this competition and who will seek qualifications for the world championships in Melbourne in December. Tetyana was born in December 2008, she will be one of the youngest swimmers. We have no specific objective for this competition. The goal is for her to take bearings so that in the next national competitions of this level, she is ready and knows what to expect.“explains the technician from Stade Lavallois.
Pleasure objective
Pleasure as the key word for the next three days, the young Ukrainian is not intimidated by the competition. “She is calm, she is happy. Happy to swim, happy to be in France. I find her very serene compared to last season when she came out of her Ukrainian model. She has the mind and the technique. I think the technique she learned as a child in Ukraine is exceptional__. It glides very well. It’s technical correction on very small things that can make a difference in the race. But these are minor fixes. In Laval, we had other very good swimmers like Solen Lannic, who was among the best in his age category. We had Bastien Roland also before“says Léa Pineau.
During these French championships in the 25m pool, Tetyana Afanasyeva will compete in the 200m medley (Thursday), the 400m medley (Friday), the 200m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke (Saturday).