WATTEL Marie

General
CHANGE IN TACTICS
She said changing her tactics in 2019 led to improved performances during the year, including at the world championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, where she won bronze in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay and reached the finals of both the 50m and 100m butterfly. "I would say I have mainly developed the way I manage races. With my coach I have sorted out things from a strategic point of view. I have also worked on being relaxed in the first 50 metres in order to be more effective in the second 50 metres." She said her self-belief improved after her performance in Gwangju. "It's true that I didn't expect to do so well. It allowed me to gain confidence in myself because I had lost it a bit with my results. It did me a lot of good mentally, and it's good to see that the work pays off." (sport.francetvinfo.fr, 02 Aug 2019; ledauphine.com, 12 Dec 2019)

MOVE TO ENGLAND
After four years based in Nice, France, in 2017 she moved abroad to study and train at Loughborough University in England. "After the Olympic Games in Rio, I struggled to see a future for myself where I was. 2016 was a complicated year, and I was the only butterfly specialist in our group in Nice. I needed a different dynamic and one where my speciality [butterfly] could flourish. The United States of America was a bit too far for me, so I went online to the British Swimming website, checked the rankings, and found clubs that were strong in butterfly. I discovered Loughborough, and I contacted the coach who said I was welcome to try out. Everything went well and I stayed. The training is very different to what I am used to. There is a lot less focus on total mileage, and much more focus on intensity." (midilibre.fr, 16 Apr 2019; mariewattel.com, 01 May 2019; club-sarcelles-natation-95.com, 19 Aug 2017; n1nside.fr, 09 Mar 2017)