2023-07-05 06:00:10
And it all ended in a rush of adrenaline, hugs and tears of joy, mixed with the water of the Olympic swimming pool of the Cercle des nageurs de Marseille (CNM). At the time of this epilogue overflowing with emotion, Thursday June 29, difficult to imagine that the fifteen women aged 42 to 65, who had just faced each other in a series of fierce water polo matches, were , a few weeks earlier, treated for breast cancer, some of which had a poor prognosis. There, in this water where athletes Florent Manaudou or Mélanie Henique, potential medalists at Paris 2024, regularly train, bright smiles and a desire to win seem to have drowned out the disease.
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Since March, Karyne, Aurélie, Marie and the others have been taking part in the Aqua-polo experience. An unprecedented feasibility study carried out by the Management Sport Cancer (MSC) laboratory of Aix-Marseille University, the Paoli-Calmettes Institute (IPC), the largest oncology center in the Provençal region, and the Faculty of Medicine. Sixteen sessions, at the rate of one per week, to create a water polo team made up of women who completed their treatment protocol between three weeks and three months previously.
Everything is supervised by professional trainers, in conditions usually reserved for top athletes. “We wanted to study the psychological and physical benefits of a collective sports practice in a spirit of competition, and observe the effects of the relationship with the coach and the other participants on the variables of recovery”, defines Sarah Calvin, doctor in neuroscience and lecturer, who directs the research projects of the laboratory.
Fifteen women, aged 42 to 65 and having recently completed treatment for their breast cancer, are taking part in the Aqua-polo study. In Marseille, June 29, 2023. ANTHONY MICALLEF FOR “THE WORLD”
Every Thursday since March, the “Roses” – the nickname they gave themselves – tumble in their elegant yellow chick bathrobes flocked with the CNM logo. The club, reputed to be elitist, opened its facilities to them, offered jerseys and hats, and made two of its coaches available. At the edge of the basin, Yann Vernoux, assistant coach of the first team, and Quentin Chipotel, in charge of hopes, distilled for four months technical advice and words of motivation. “With the instruction to remain in our approach of competitors”explains the last.
“Crossing boundaries”
Trainers, researchers, assistants… Each session is supervised by around ten people. Virginie Mariette, physiotherapist specializing in breast cancer, leads the warm-up. “With the gestures of abduction or rotation required by water polo, I expected to deal with pain in the upper limbs… But, in the game, the girls make these movements almost naturally “, she notes.
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