Jacqueline Simoneau and Audrey Lamothe | Passing the torch, with or without a medal

One participated in her first Olympic Games in 2016. The other, at the same time, was still attending primary school.

The differences between Jacqueline Simoneau and Audrey Lamothe are numerous. They still represent the nation’s best hopes in artistic swimming for the next Olympic Games, even if obtaining a medal is not necessarily part of the game plan.

Whether by their age, their experience, their style or their way of approaching the last stages before Paris, Simoneau and Lamothe are polar opposites.

But when they are reunited, a few seconds are enough to see to what extent these preconceptions change nothing in their relationship. The veteran and the rookie were meant to be together. Neither the oppressive heat of this May afternoon nor the end of another eight-hour training session in the outdoor swimming pools of Parc Jean-Drapeau could have dampened their smiles and their knowing looks.

As they sat down at a picnic table near the aquatic center, the almost inordinate amount of sunscreen applied to their faces was still visible even after a full day of exercising underwater.

This relationship, therefore, was built quickly. In September, Simoneau came out of retirement to experience the Olympic experience one last time. And if she was driven by the ambition to come full circle, she especially wanted to do it with Lamothe, 19, one of the new faces of the discipline in Canada.

“I feel like it’s my turn to pass the torch,” says Simoneau. I felt that at my first Games with Karine [Thomas], and now it’s my turn to pass it to Audrey. »

Already, the results speak for themselves. Together, they first won two bronze medals at the World Cup in Paris at the beginning of May, in the pool in which they will swim at the Olympics. Then, last weekend, they won two silver medals at the Markham World Cup, again during the technical and free events.

For his part, Simoneau also won solo gold at the Doha Worlds in February. This is why, every day since their association, Lamothe can hardly believe the privilege she has of being able to team up with a luminary like Simoneau.

“Jacqueline was my childhood idol,” says the swimmer from the Montreal Synchro club. When I found out that we were really going to form a duo, there was a part of me that was really happy. Who wouldn’t want to swim and be around their idol? There was also a part of me that felt extra pressure, because my biggest fear was disappointing her and not meeting her expectations. »

During this eulogy, Simoneau nodded while looking at the ground, visibly embarrassed by the beauty of the words. “I don’t like to define myself by results,” she explains. In training, I do the same things as the other athletes and I am part of the team like everyone else. »

However, Lamothe refused to let her teammate get away with this, with this kind of generic response usually offered by these athletes too humble to recognize the quality of their exemplary work.

“I’m learning how to be an Olympic athlete. How to become a high performance athlete. How to become a complete athlete. How to take care of my recovery. How to push,” continues Lamothe in a flight that did not help Simoneau recover from his discomfort.

An unexpected success

Their first bronze medals won in Paris did nothing to calm their enthusiasm. In a sport judged like theirs, reputation and performances achieved before competitions matter.

Dissatisfied with their program at the start of the season, the Quebecers completely changed their technical choreography. “It’s like being a goalie in hockey and being asked to play forward. It wasn’t natural, it’s not our strength,” explains Simoneau.

Changing a program from A to Z, in the middle of the season, especially in the middle of an Olympic year, is extremely rare. But in truth, the swimmers knew they were going to have to face this challenge before the most important competition of the last four years. “While swimming in Doha, I knew that I was not going to do that at the Games,” emphasizes Simoneau. They took seventh place in the technical event at these Worlds.

So, as the other teams kept their initial choreography, getting on the World Cup podium with a new number was something of a joy for the duo.

Hence the importance of trusting yourself through this dizzying process, notes Simoneau: “For us, it was still a risk, because we are starting from zero, but in our sport, it is so important to have a routine that is yours and highlights your strengths. The routine belongs to us, it’s more artistic, it plays more with the music. And we will increase our difficulty between now and the Games. »

With or without medal

Canada has not won an Olympic pairs medal since the 1992 Barcelona Games, when the Vilagos twins won silver.

However, Simoneau and Lamothe do not feel any pressure from the federation. According to them, given the issues with which Canada Artistic Swimming has had to negotiate in recent years, notably these allegations of abuse and harassment, “the program really aims at the well-being of the athletes. It’s completely changed,” admits Simoneau.

The fact remains that last month’s resounding success has shaken up their expectations a little. “We are capable, but it has to be the right day,” thinks Lamothe. To hope for a medal, Quebecers must have the best day of their career. And twice rather than once, because the medal is awarded at the end of the technical and free combined.

The medal should not, however, become a barometer during this first Olympic experience, continues Lamothe: “I don’t want to see it as a failure if we don’t have a medal. »

In any case, she believes she can benefit from it, because there will still be a lesson to be learned, whether on the podium or in the middle of the pack. “All athletes would like a medal, otherwise, at our level, you have no reason to be there, but there is still something between a top 3 and total failure. »

With a view to Paris, Simoneau still keeps a cool head. “The objective is not to arrive in the top 3. The objective is not to have a medal. » At her last Games, she took fifth place in a duo with Claudia Holzner.

However, at the World Cup in Paris, she and her new teammate could not help but project themselves by seeing themselves for a short moment on this same podium, but in an Olympic context.

“Imagine still being here in three months,” Lamothe remembers saying to himself. Conceived… “