2023-09-03 16:30:00
Joyful atmosphere on the beach of the Grand Jardin on the island of Sainte Marguerite.
With 138 swimmers, including Mayor David Lisnard, eager to take the plunge. Beautiful sun. But light chop. There is Ketty, Karine, and their friends from ASVN de Vence. “We swim 2 km every morning. We aim for 35 minutes! What are we afraid of? Jellyfish!”. There is Elie, 19, from the Antibes club. Its 5th edition. An athletic fish in the water since childhood. Or Eric, 63, retired, grimacing. Arrived 2nd in its category last year. But tendonitis this time. There’s Tiffany, 34, and Muriel, 56, laughing. “We’re freelance swimmers just hoping to finish.”.
A dream setting for a race in transparent water between Saint-Honorat and Sainte-Marguerite. Photo G. A.
This is the charm of this intergenerational event (the youngest was 13, the oldest 80), chaired by the dynamic Jacqueline Benezat, whose idyllic setting is the transparent waters of Lérins. Come on, spot the 1500 meter loop.
And top start at 11am: yellow caps (109 unlicensed) and blue (29 licensed) set off. A paddle leads the way. “The difficulty is to stay the course when there is current” slips Jérôme, lifeguard who monitors the race from a tire. A current effectively deflects the trajectories of bodies splitting the waves. What will also encumber last year’s performance by three to four minutes.
As for the result, it’s the same triple winner as last year! As in 2022, the young Rafaël Eck, 16, came out of the water first, followed a minute later by Baptiste Tacaille, 17. And on the girls’ side, as in 2022, it’s Prune Mailhol, 16, the best swimmer of the day…
Rafaël Eck, 16, swimmer from the Vallauris swimming club came first in the race with the time of 25.05 minutes. Photo G. A.
Classification
1 Rafaël ECK, cat 14/16 ans ( 25’05”)
2 Baptiste TACAILLE, cat 17/30 (26’ 09’’)
3 Valentin BOURGEOIS, under 14, (27’40”)
4 Laurent FLAVENOT, cat over 51 (28’16”)
5 Renaud BOURGEOIS , cat 51/60, (28’21’’)
6 Elie MINGUET, cat 16/25, (28’42”)
7 Gregory GUIBERT, cat 41/50, (28’49”)
8 Prune MAILHOL, cat 14/16, (28’56’’)
9 Jean-Yves SUC, cat 51/+, (29’59’’)
10 Olivier SIMANE, cat 51/60, (31’05”)
The young Valentin, 13, from Auribeau-sur-Siagne, at the CNC, had a great performance: he came 3rd, one minute before his dad Renaud. his mother is very proud. Photo G. A.
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#aiming #minutes #swam #1500m #Lérins #islands
