2023-07-08 00:50:02
It all ended in a rush of adrenalin, hugs, and tears of joy mixed with the water of the Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille’s (Swimming Circle of Marseille, CNM) Olympic pool. During this emotional epilogue on Thursday, June 29, it was hard to imagine that the 15 or so women aged between 42 and 65 who had just competed in a series of fierce water polo matches were, just a few weeks earlier, being treated for breast cancers, some of them with an unfavorable prognosis. Here, in the water where athletes like Florent Manaudou and Mélanie Henique, potential medalists at the 2024 Paris Olympics, regularly train, their bright smiles and desire to win seem to have drowned the disease.
Since March, Karyne, Aurélie, Marie and the others have been taking part in a water polo experiment. This unprecedented feasibility study is conducted by Aix-Marseille University’s Management Sport Cancer (MSC) laboratory, the Institut Paoli-Calmettes (IPC), the largest oncology center in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, and the faculty of medicine. 16 sessions, one a week, to create a water polo team composed of women who completed their treatment protocol between three weeks and three months ago.
All of them are under the supervision of professional coaches, in conditions usually reserved for top-level athletes. “We wanted to study the psychological and physical benefits of collective and competitive sports practice and observe the repercussions of their relationships with the coach and other participants on recovery variables,” explained Sarah Calvin, Ph.D. in neuroscience and the senior lecturer heading the laboratory’s research projects.
An aqua-polo session for women who recently completed their cancer treatment, in Marseille, on June 30, 2023. ANTHONY MICALLEF FOR « LE MONDE »
Every Thursday since March, the “Roses” – the nickname they’ve chosen for themselves – have turned up in their elegant, baby-yellow bathrobes emblazoned with the CNM logo. The reputedly elitist club opened its facilities to them, offered them swimsuits and caps and provided two of its coaches. For four months, Yann Vernoux, a first-team assistant coach, and Quentin Chipotel, who is in charge of the U23s team, offered them technical advice and motivational speeches at the edge of the pool. “We’ve been instructed to remain true to our approach as competitors,” explained the latter.
‘Go beyond your limits’
Trainers, researchers, assistants… Each session is supervised by a group of around ten people. Virginie Mariette, a physiotherapist specializing in breast cancer, leads the warm-up. “Because of the abduction and rotation movements required by water polo, I expected them to feel pain in their upper limbs… But during the game, the girls make these movements almost naturally,” she noted.
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