Marie Wattel, born in 1997, distinguished herself by winning the silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly, behind Sweden's Louise Hansson, with a time of 56"80. The youngster was also part of a group victory: Marie, Charlotte Bonnet, and Charles Rihoux, all Don Bosco Nice Past Pupils, and Maxime Grousset, won the gold medal in the 4 x 100 mixed freestyle on August 15.
Charlotte Bonnet gave France another medal the next day: with her teammates Lucile Tessariol, Wissam Amazigh Yebba, and Hadrien Salvan, the young swimmer, born Feb. 14, 1995, in Enghien-les-Bains, took silver in the 4 x 200 mixed relay, behind Great Britain.
On Aug. 17, Marie Wattel and Charlotte Bonnet, along with Béryl Gastaldello, born in Marseille on Feb. 16, 1995, and also trained at Don Bosco in Nice, and Pauline Mahieu, won the silver medal in the 4 x 100 medley, even setting a new French record.
In total, the French team won three gold, eight silver, and 10 bronze medals. A magnificent record of achievement to which the Salesian Past Pupils contributed greatly.
In 2000, the Institute for the Development of the Academic Interests of Sportsmen (IDISS) was created within the "Fondation Don Bosco de Nice." "We felt it was important to meet their expectations," recalled Bernard Chastang, the school's director at the time.
Today, the IDISS proves to be doing great work for so many young sportsmen and women. In fact, all the students have obtained the "brevet des collèges" (high school diploma), and 90 percent of them obtained it with honors. In addition to swimming, there are numerous disciplines in which students attending this institution excel: cycling, water polo, figure skating, boxing, gymnastics, and rugby.
Continuing with other examples, it should be mentioned that cyclist Nicolas Breuillard, who studied at the institute, was just crowned French U23 road champion. Kilian Hampiaux, in his second year of vocational training, just placed second in the European cadet mountain bike championship. In gymnastics, Camille Diméglio, a third-year secondary student, became FSGT vice-champion of France at the French gymnastics championships in Blanc-Mesnil in June.
