Yohann Ndoye-Brouard wins bronze in the 200m backstroke at the World Swimming Championships, an "event that hurts a lot"

International competition podiums have a way of easing the pain. Just ask Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, who has long been reluctant to compete in the 200m backstroke, an "event that really hurts," by his own admission. The final of the distance didn't do the 24-year-old French backstroker any good on Friday, August 1, but it did give him his second world medal of the week with a time of 1 min 54 s 62. The second bronze, after the 100m backstroke on Tuesday.

"In terms of the apprehension of the race, it's much better. I still have that memory of Chartres, during the qualifications for the [Paris 2024] Games . It was the worst day of my life, the one in the 200m backstroke. Honestly, I wanted to cry all day long ," he described at the end of the event dominated by the Hungarian Hubert Kos (1st, 1 min 53.19) and the South African Pieter Coetze (2nd, 1 min 53.36). Really, it's crazy what emotions it can give us."

After talking to Mathieu Neuillet, his coach at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (INSEP), Yohann Ndoye-Brouard agreed to compete again. "He had to realize that, in reality, the 200m backstroke could also just be a work race. That we weren't necessarily looking for anything there, but that there was really an interest for him to improve in the 200m with a view to the 100m," explains the coach, who adds with a smile: "Now, however, I think he's in for three years doing the 200m backstroke."

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