Water polo: with Thomas Vernoux, France holds the future best player in the world

by time news

PSG is not the only French club to have a phenomenon in its workforce with Kylian Mbappé. There are, of course, the Mets basketball players led this season by the stratospheric Victor Wembanyama, probably future number one in the NBA draft next June. Less known than the first two but just as impressive, the Marseille polo player Thomas Vernoux is promised to climb on top of the world like his two compatriots in the coming years.

At only 21 years old (he celebrated them this Tuesday), this colossus (1m92 for 86 kg) embodies this new generation of French carnivorous sportsmen. Joined the France A team at the age of… 14, the Marseillais already has 60 selections. In just over a year, he will be the leader of the France team at the Paris Olympics. “The goal is to get a medal,” he says. I always try to be the best in what I do. I want to take France and my club to the highest level. »

This Sunday afternoon (kick-off at 3 p.m.)the silhouette of the tip of the Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille will be visible in the basin of Aulnay-sous-Bois (Odyssée aquatic center) for the clash of the 17th day of the Elite Championship between the Marseille leader and his runner-up from Cercle 93 des Nageurs Noiséens.

“When you are a coach, you are the one who slows him down”

“He has a talent with a work ethic well above average and has exceptional physical, physiological and mental qualities… He’s an extraterrestrial,” says Florian Bruzzo, the national coach. He is destined for a great future, he knows it and he wants it. He is super demanding. He is easy to train, never tired, never sick. When you’re a coach, you’re the one holding him back. »

Son of a Marseille mother and a Martinican father, Thomas Vernoux signed his first water polo license at the age of 7 after having practiced tennis and rugby. His uncle Yann, captain of the Blues (244 selections between 1996 and 2007), has then just hung up his bathing cap.

“It’s a sport that everyone enjoys. We love to play with a ball in the water when we are young, says the interested party. I liked to play in the pool with my cousin, Romain Marion-Vernoux, (two years her senior) and today we are club and selection teammates. My two cousins ​​Emma and Lily also play in blue. »

“There is no limit to its enormous potential”

Gifted, the kid is quickly outclassed. “At the time when we were training for the French team in Marseille, I saw Thomas at each of our training sessions, recalls Jonathan Moriamé, the manager of Cercle 93 and former porter of the Blues. Three years later, I supervised the U 15 of Noisy-le-Sec and each time we faced Marseille, he flew over the match when he was two years younger. »

The machine is accelerating. First match with the Marseille senior team at 14, first cap with the Blues six months later, first professional contract at 16… At 17, he even took part in a 100m freestyle competition. After only a few technique lessons for this discipline, he swims the distance in just over 22 seconds, a few tenths of the French record.

“If Thomas had practiced another sport, he would have been international, that’s for sure, insists Jonathan Moriamé. He looks like a bodybuilder, whereas in our sport we are often slender. It is a ball of muscle that combines strength, agility and flexibility. By his physical qualities, he manages to score goals at the peak position, which is very rare. »

A talent already courted and recognized by the crème de la crème

From an early age, the Marseillais already knew where he wanted to go. Despite a very busy schedule due to his sporting precocity, he never abandoned his studies. He obtained his scientific baccalaureate as an independent candidate and is currently preparing a distance learning mathematics and physics degree.

“My first meeting with Thomas dates back to 2018 when I was responsible for water polo at the national level, says Florian Bruzzo. I made an appointment with him in Canet-en-Roussillon to get to know him. At the end of the discussion, Thomas tells me that he wants to become the best player in the world. At only 16 years old. He tells me that a little embarrassed. I immediately put him at ease. I was very happy that he could have that ambition. So we worked with that in mind. I try to accompany him towards this ambition. »

Winner of the European Cup (EuroCup) with Marseille in 2019, Thomas Vernoux is obviously courted by the best European clubs, mainly the Italians. The greatest players in the discipline are already very complimentary of the French prodigy like the Croatian Ivan Krapic, European champion last year with his selection and Olympic vice-champion in Rio.

“I played against him several times and Thomas is a great player. Despite his young age, he is not the future but already the present of the France team, praises the player from Noisy-le-Sec. In the world of water polo, he is already recognized. I’m impressed by him and yet I’ve seen a lot of great players but never so dominating at his age. There is no limit to its enormous potential. Thomas will become world number one in two or three years, for sure, if he keeps working. »

“I’m going to have to go myself, it’s not going to happen on its own, supports the person concerned. It’s nice to hear that many people believe in me. It motivates even more. »

You may also like

Leave a Comment