Hello Camille, I know you are a very very fast Finswimmer all over the World, tell us about your career since the beginnings.
Hey Davide! First of all, I’d like to thank you for interviewing me!
It’s funny because I don’t see me as a very very fast swimmer as you say! Every time I swim, I still have the feeling that I can swim faster! I guess this is what makes me want to go further and keep training even if it becomes harder this time!
So I swim for 10 years now! I had 2 very good coaches (Sebastien Roverati and Michel Kitchev) because they succeed to make me find where was my capacity and how to use it to let it going out and do my best every time! They not only coach me physically but also mentally!
With Sebastien, I got my first international medal (bronze) as a junior and an European record for a few times in 50ap.
With Michel, who continues Sebastien’s work, I went better and last year in Eger, I swam very good and won a gold medal and a European record on 100IM. I also did an amazing time in relay on 4x100SF!

They told me you are graduated now, what kind of studies? And what kind of job? How do you mix work and sport?
Yeah! I’m graduated since July. I am now a civil engineer and I’m working near Paris as an industrial project engineer.
It’s true it’s not easy to train and work and do it well…Now I am in a point in my “career” where I just want to have fun, train and see! Of course, I like to win so I just do my best every day and forget that maybe next week I could miss trainings!!

You are an European Record Holder…when and where did you get this title? How did you feel that day?
As I told u before, I got this gold medal for the 100IM in Eger, to the 2008 European championship.
In Torino (2006) I was 3rd on this race; the next year to the CMAS Games I did the same. So I knew I was in Eger for that! I wanted it so bad that I did what I had to do and make true one of my dreams!
When you feel you’re in front of everybody during a race, it’s like if you are flying, it looks so easy… even if it’s not!

Who are your favourite Finswimmers and why? Who is/was your point of reference?
I really am impressed by Vassilisa Kravchuk and Pavel Kabanov! Every time I see them swimming, I find it beautiful! They are 2 very amazing athletes and even with their crazy good results they still look humble!
Well I didn’t really have a point of reference… Maybe Vassilisa! She was the girl to beat!! My 2 coaches always taught me to have big ambitions!

What do you expect from this sport? How do you see it in the next 10 years?
I’m glad you ask this question. In France, you can hear a lot of debate those times and from my point of view it doesn’t seem constructive! It’s more a settling of accounts!
I don’t pretend to have the answer, and I think nobody can say that. I just expect that people open their mind, just take a look next to them and see what they kind find. Most of them will go and compare us to swimming! Yes, swimming can help us of course, like other sports, but we need to adapt what we learn to Finswimming. People often forgot that a monofin hurts our ankles, that we only use the strength of legs… it’s a different sport, so a different way of training!

What do you like about Finswimming? And what do you hate?
What I like about Finswimming, it’s all the good things that gives to me. It made me a combative person and it taught me humbleness in good as in bad moments!
I also like how good I feel when I swim with my mono, how it’s good to feel tired and proud of you after a hard training or a competition and above all, I love party with my swimming friends!!

What I hate is all that gossip you can hear or all that unconstructive debate when people just talk about their own person. They say they want to help our sport grow, but they don’t see how they make it smaller!!
Sometimes, I have the feeling that for them I’m a cheater because they cannot understand why I can succeed and they don’t. But here is my secret: I leave my life and whatever happens, happens!

Tell us a Typical Training Day.
Well, since last year, my typical training days were: school in the morning then training during lunch time, school again (except when I was too lazy to go ) And 2 or 3 times a week second training (gym or swimming)
This time, it’s different because I’m working now. I need to re-adapt my training, and we are still working on it!

Did you meet a lot of friends with our sports? Are you always in contact with them?
Yes! Most of my best friends are fin swimmers from France of course but from the entire world too! I think we just went through lots of tough stuff all together during training or competition that explains why we are such good friends!
But it’s hard to see them only a few times per year! I try to do my best to keep in touch as possible as I can but days are often too short!

If you could do something, what would you do to let Finswimming grow?
Everything I can do!
I don’t have lots of time for myself so I just help when I can! But I hope one day I could do more!
For now, I support actions from my friends. Antoine Aouidad is doing a lot with Finspirit for example.

Tell us something (free topic)
Well, again thank you for this interview!

I also want to thank all the people who support me. I think to all my friends who train(ed) with me, especially the POP team! (It’s a mix of my 2 teams: Paris and Toulouse!!), to my family and now my co-workers!
I also want to give a special thanks to Hugues Brilhault and Michel Kitchev. They both work together to make me the best! I am not an easy person to train! With my busy schedule and my lazy attitude!
But still, they are always there for me and I know they do a lot sometimes just to make me feel better!
Michel has a different point of view about training than a lot of other trainers, but believe me, my trainings are not only some 15m sprint and that’s all! Maybe I’m a good swimmer but without him I won’t be anything or at least far from what I am now!

To finish, I knew I was a person who talk a lot but I didn’t knew I can do it also by writing!

Ciao Camille, tu sei una delle atlete più veloci del Mondo, raccontaci la tua carriera dagli inizi.
Ciao Davide! Prima di tutto, vorrei ringraziarti per questa intervista!
E’ buffo perchè io non mi reputo così veloce! Ogni volta che nuoto, ho sempre la sensazione di poter andare un pochino meglio! Penso sia questo che mi fa andare avanti e continuare ad allenarmi anche se in questo periodo è molto faticoso!
Allora…questo è il mio decimo anno di Nuoto Pinnato! Ho avuto due ottimi allenatori (Sebastien Roverati e Michel Kitchev) poichè sono riusciti a farmi trovare le mie potenzialità e come usare la mia tecnica per andare sempre più forte! Non mi hanno allenato solo fisicamente, ma anche mentalmente!
Con Sebastien, ho ottenuto la mia prima medaglia internazionale (bronzo) nella categoria giovanile e Record Europeo sui 50ap un po’ di volte.
Con Michel, che sta continuando il lavoro di Sebastien, ho migliorato molto due anni fa a Eger, ho nuotato molto bene e ho vinto la medaglia d’oro e il Record Europeo nei 100IM. Ho anche fatto un tempo incredibile nella 4x100SF!

Mi hanno detto che ti sei laureata da poco, in cosa di preciso? E che lavoro fai? Come riesci a gestire lavoro e sport insieme?
Yeah! Sono laureata da Luglio. Ora sono un’ingegnere civile e lavoro vicino Parigi come ingegnere di progetti industriali.
Hai ragione, non è facile lavorare e allenarsi contemporaneamente, e soprattutto nel modo migliore…Adesso mi trovo in un punto della mia “carriera” dove voglio divertirmi, allenarmi e vedere cosa viene fuori! Certo, mi piace vincere quindi penso solo ad allenarmi e cerco di non pensare che magari la settimana prossima potrei saltare gli allenamenti!!

Detieni un Record Europeo…dove e quando hai ottenuto questo risultato? Come ti sei sentita quel giorno?
Come ho già spiegato prima, ho vinto la medaglia d’oro nei 100IM a Eger, ai Campionati Europei nel 2008.
A Torino (2006) arrivai terza nella stessa distanza; l’anno dopo ai CMAS Games uguale. Quindi sapevo di essere li ad Eger per vincere! Lo volevo davvero quindi ho fatto il possibile per far si che il mio sogno si avverasse!
Quando ti senti davanti a tutti in una gara, è come se stessi volando, sembra così facile…anche se non lo è!

Chi sono i tuoi Pinnatisti preferiti? Chi è/era il tuo punto di riferimento?
Ammiro tantissimo Vassilisa Kravchuk e Pavel Kabanov! Ogni volta che li vedo nuotare, per me è bellissimo! SOno due atleti magnifici e anche se sono dei campioni, loro sembrano sempre umili!
Beh non ho proprio un punto di riferimento… forse Vassilisa! Era la ragazza da battere!! I miei due allenatori mi hanno istruito da avere degli obiettivi molto alti!

Cosa ti aspetti da questo sport? Come lo immagini tra 10 anni?
Sono felice che tu mi abbia fatto questa domanda. In France, you can hear a lot of debate those times and from my point of view it doesn’t seem constructive! It’s more a settling of accounts!
I don’t pretend to have the answer, and I think nobody can say that. I just expect that people open their mind, just take a look next to them and see what they kind find. Most of them will go and compare us to swimming! Yes, swimming can help us of course, like other sports, but we need to adapt what we learn to Finswimming. People often forgot that a monofin hurts our ankles, that we only use the strength of legs… it’s a different sport, so a different way of training!

Cosa ti piace del Nuoto Pinnato? E cosa odi?
What I like about Finswimming, it’s all the good things that gives to me. It made me a combative person and it taught me humbleness in good as in bad moments!
I also like how good I feel when I swim with my mono, how it’s good to feel tired and proud of you after a hard training or a competition and above all, I love party with my swimming friends!!

What I hate is all that gossip you can hear or all that unconstructive debate when people just talk about their own person. They say they want to help our sport grow, but they don’t see how they make it smaller!!
Sometimes, I have the feeling that for them I’m a cheater because they cannot understand why I can succeed and they don’t. But here is my secret: I leave my life and whatever happens, happens!

Raccontaci una tua giornata tipo.
Well, since last year, my typical training days were: school in the morning then training during lunch time, school again (except when I was too lazy to go ) And 2 or 3 times a week second training (gym or swimming)
This time, it’s different because I’m working now. I need to re-adapt my training, and we are still working on it!

Hai incontrato molti amici con questo Sport? Sei sempre in contatto con loro?
Yes! Most of my best friends are fin swimmers from France of course but from the entire world too! I think we just went through lots of tough stuff all together during training or competition that explains why we are such good friends!
But it’s hard to see them only a few times per year! I try to do my best to keep in touch as possible as I can but days are often too short!

Se tu potessi, cosa faresti per far crescere il Nuoto Pinnato?
Everything I can do!
I don’t have lots of time for myself so I just help when I can! But I hope one day I could do more!
For now, I support actions from my friends. Antoine Aouidad is doing a lot with Finspirit for example.

Dicci quello che vuoi (argomento libero)
Well, again thank you for this interview!

I also want to thank all the people who support me. I think to all my friends who train(ed) with me, especially the POP team! (It’s a mix of my 2 teams: Paris and Toulouse!!), to my family and now my co-workers!
I also want to give a special thanks to Hugues Brilhault and Michel Kitchev. They both work together to make me the best! I am not an easy person to train! With my busy schedule and my lazy attitude!
But still, they are always there for me and I know they do a lot sometimes just to make me feel better!
Michel has a different point of view about training than a lot of other trainers, but believe me, my trainings are not only some 15m sprint and that’s all! Maybe I’m a good swimmer but without him I won’t be anything or at least far from what I am now!

To finish, I knew I was a person who talk a lot but I didn’t knew I can do it also by writing!

Bonjour Camille, je sais que tu es une nageuse très très rapide au niveau mondial, raconte nous ta carrière depuis le début.

Hey Davide! Avant tout, je voudrais de remercier pour cette interview!
C’est marrant parce que je ne me vois pas comme une nageuse « très très rapide » comme tu le dis ! Chaque fois que je nage, j’ai toujours le sentiment que je peux nager encore plus vite ! J’imagine que c’est ce qui me donne envie d’aller toujours plus loin et que je continue à m’entrainer même si ça devient de plus en plus difficile ces derniers temps !
Je nage depuis 10 ans maintenant. J’ai eu 2 très bon coach (Sebastien Roverati et Michel Kitchev), puisqu’ils ont réussi à me faire trouver où était mes capacités et comment m’en servir pour que ca sorte et que je nage de mon mieux à chaque fois ! Ils ne m’entrainent pas que physiquement mais psychologiquement aussi !
Avec Sebastien, j’ai obtenu ma 1ere médaille internationale (bronze) en junior et un record d’europe junior pour quelques temps sur le 50 AP.
Avec Michel, qui a continué le travail de Sebastien, je suis allée encore plsu loin et l’an dernier à Eger, j’ai très bien nagé, j’ai gagné une médaille d’or et un record d’Europe sur 100 IM. J’ai aussi fait un temps impressionnant au relais 4X100SF !

On m’a dit que tu étais diplômée maintenant, qu’as tu étudié? Et quel est ton travail? Comment gères tu le travail et le sport?
Yeah ! je suis diplômée depuis le mois de Juillet. Je suis maintenant ingénieur en génie civil et je travaille près de Paris comme ingénieur de projet dans l’industrie alimentaire.
Il est vrai que ce n’est pas facile de s’entrainer et travailler en même temps, et de faire tout ça bien…Maintenant je suis arrivée à un point dans ma « carrière » où je veux juste prendre du plaisir, m’entrainer et voir ! bien sur, j’aime gagner alors je fais juste de mon mieux chaque jour et j’essais de ne pas penser que peut-être la semaine prochaine je ne pourrais rater un entrainement.

Tu possèdes un record d’Europe… Quand et où as tu obtenus ce titre? Comment t’es tu sentie ce jour là?
Comme je l’ai dit juste avant, j’ai eu cette médaille d’or pour le 100 IM à Eger lors des championnats d’Europe 2008.
A Turin (2006), j’ai fini 3eme sur cette course, pareil l’année suivante aux Jeux de la CMAS. Je savais donc que j’étais à Eger pour ça ! je le voulais tellement que j’ai fait ce que j’avais à faire et réaliser un de mes rêves !
Quand tu sens que tu es devant tes adversaires pendant une course, c’est comme si tu avais des ailes, tout semble facile…même si ça ne l’est pas !

Qui sont tes palmeurs préférés et pourquoi? Qui est ou a été ton point de référence?
Je suis vraiment impressionnée par Vassilisa Kravchuk et Pavel Kabanov. A chaque fois que je les vois nager, je trouve ça magnifique ! ce sont 2 athlètes très impressionnants et même s’ils ont des résultats fous, ils semblent toujours rester humbles !
Je n’ai jamais vraiment eu de point de référence…Peut-être Vasilissa ! Elle était la fille à battre ! Mes 2 coach m’ont toujours appris à avoir de grandes ambitions !

Qu’attends tu de ce sport? Comment le vois tu dans 10 ans?
Je suis contente que tu me pose cette question ! en France, en ce moment il y a beaucoup de débats qui de mon point de vue ne semblent pas très constructifs. Ca ressemble plus à des règlements de comptes !
Je ne prétends pas avoir la réponse et je pense que personne ne peut dire ça. J’attends juste que les gens s’ouvrent l’esprit, jettent un coup d’œil autour d’eux, et regardent ce qu’ils peuvent trouver ! la plupart d’entre eux va nous comparer à la natation. Oui la natation peut nous aider, comme d’autres sports, mais nous devons adapter cet enseignement à la nage avec palmes. Les gens oublient souvent qu’une monopalme c’est traumatisant pour les chevilles, que notre seule force de propulsion ce sont nos jambes…c’est un sport différent donc une façon différente de s’entrainer !

Qu’aimes tu dans la nage avec palme?et que détestes tu?
Ce que j’aime dans la nage avec palme, c’est toutes les choses positives que cela m’a apporté. Ça m’a rendu combative et ça m’a appris l’humilité dans les bons comme dans les mauvais moments !
J’aime aussi les sensations quand je nage avec ma mono, comme il est bon de ressentir la fatigue et la fierté de soi-même après un entrainement dur ou une compétition. Et par-dessus tout, j’adore faire la fête avec mes amis nageurs !!

Ce que je n’aime pas, c’est tous ces commérages que l’on peut entendre ou ces débats sans intérêt quand les gens ne parlent que par rapport à leur propre personne. Ils pensent qu’ils aident notre sport à se développer sans se rendre compte qu’en fait ils ne nous font que reculer.
Parfois, j’ai le sentiment que pour ces personnes là je suis une tricheuse simplement parce qu’ils ne comprennent pas pourquoi je peux réussir et eux non. Je vais vous dire mon secret : je vis ma vie, et ce qui doit arriver arrivera !

Décris nous une journée d’entraînement type.
Et bien, jusqu’à l’an dernier, une journée d’entrainement type c’était : école le matin puis entrainement entre 12H et 14h puis cours encore (sauf quand je n’avais pas trop envie d’y aller ) et 2 à 3 fois par semaine un second entrainement (muscu ou piscine)
En ce moment, c’est différent car maintenant je travaille. Je dois réadapter mon entrainement et on est toujours en train de travailler là dessus !

As tu rencontré beaucoup d’amis avec notre sport? Es tu toujours en contact avec eux?
Oui ! La plupart de mes amis sont des palmeurs de France bien sur mais du monde entier aussi ! Je pense que le fait que nous traversions des moments vraiment difficiles ensemble pendant les entrainements et les compétitions nous rapproche et nous fait être de si bons amis !
Mais c’est dur de ne les voir que quelques fois par an. J’essais de faire de mon mieux pour rester en contact mais les jours sont trop courts !

Si tu pouvais faire quelque chose, qu’est ce que tu ferais pour aider la nage avec palme à évoluer?
Tout ce que je peux faire !
Je n’ai pas vraiment de temps pour moi, alors j’essais juste d’aider quand je le peux. Mais j’espère qu’un jour je pourrais faire plus !
Pour l’instant je soutiens les actions de mes amis. Par exemple, Antoine Aouidad fait beaucoup pour nous avec Finspirit.

Dis nous ce que tu veux (tribune libre)
Et bien, encore merci de m’avoir permis de m’exprimer dans cette interview.

Je voulais aussi remercier toutes les personnes qui me soutiennent. Je pense à tous mes amis avec qui je me suis entrainée et avec qui je m’entraine encore, particulièrement l’équipe du POP (c’est un mix de mes 2 équipes : Paris et Toulouse !!), à ma famille et maintenant mes collègues de travail.
Je voudrais aussi remercier tout spécialement Hugues Brilhault et Michel Kitchev. Ils travaillent tous les 2 ensembles pour me faire parvenir à mon plus haut niveau ! Je ne suis pas toujours une personne facile à entrainer !! Avec mon emploi du temps toujours plein et mon attitude de paresseuse ! Mais malgré tout, ils sont toujours là pour moi, et je sais qu’ils font beaucoup pour moi, parfois simplement pour que je me sente mieux !
Michel a un point de vue différent que beaucoup d’autres coach en matière d’entrainement, mais croyez moi, mes entrainements ce n’est pas quelques 15m sprint et c’est tout ! Peut-être que je suis une bonne nageuse, mais sans Michel je ne serai rien ou alors loin de là où je suis maintenant !
Mon but n’est pas de critiquer ou de dire que mon entraineur a raison et les autres torts. Je veux juste faire passer un message, dire que tout n’est que travail, et qu’il faut le respecter.

Et pour finir, je savais que je parlais beaucoup mais je ne pensais pas pouvoir l’être aussi à l’écrit !

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