France wins first-ever open water swimming medals

France finally broke its medal duck in open water swimming at the European Championships in Paris today, as Marc-Antoine Olivier and Logan Fontaine secured silver and bronze in the gruelling three-kilometre knockout race.

This was more than a first for the French team—it was a statement. France has long dominated pool swimming in Europe but lagged far behind in open water, where endurance, navigation skills, and unpredictable conditions separate champions from also-rans. The last time a French swimmer stood on an open water podium at the continental level was over a decade ago, at the 2012 European Championships in Hungary. That drought ended today, with Olivier and Fontaine delivering in front of a home crowd at the Pontoise rowing base, just outside Paris.

Olivier, a 24-year-old from Sète, finished just 0.2 seconds behind gold medallist Marc Hammarström of Sweden, while Fontaine, 23, held off a late charge from Germany’s Oliver Klemet to take bronze. Both athletes trained under the French Swimming Federation’s high-performance program, which has invested heavily in open water development since the 2016 Rio Olympics, when France earned no medals in the sport. That push included new training camps in Corsica and the Mediterranean, focused on rough-water acclimatization and drafting tactics. “This is the result of years of work,” said French coach Stéphane Lecat. “We wanted to show that France can compete at the highest level in open water, not just in the pool.”

The breakthrough comes ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, where open water swimming will take place in the Seine. With home advantage and rising stars like Olivier and Fontaine, France now has real contenders for Olympic medals. The federation has already set its sights on the 10km event, where both swimmers will compete next week. A medal in Paris would not only cap years of investment—it would signal a new era for French endurance swimming.