Chloé Marie Helene Sauvourel (born 18 June 2000) is a French-born Central African

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. She competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in the

women's 50 metre freestyle A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as " women's rights" to denote female humans rega ...

event; her time of 37.15 seconds in the heats did not qualify her for the semifinals. She was the flagbearer for her country at the Parade of Nations.

Early life

Chloe Marie Helene Sauvourel was born on 18 June 2000 in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, France, to a French father and a Central African mother.

Swimming career

Sauvourel competed in the

at the

2015 World Aquatics Championships The 16th FINA World Aquatics Championships, FINA World Championships (russian: Чемпионат мира по водным видам спорта 2015), also Aquatics 2015, were held in Kazan, Russia from 24 July to 9 August 2015. Russia host ...

in Kazan, Tatarstan. She finished seventh in the second heat on 8 August, with a time of 46.55 seconds, which did not qualify her for the following round.

Olympics

She arrived at the Olympic village on 1 August 2016, while her father stayed elsewhere in the city. Sauvourel was selected as the flagbearer for the Central African Republic's contingent in the parade of nations at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

. When asked how she felt, she said it was "something very strong, it was a magical moment! I thank also the Central African trusting me! It was a real pride to wear the colors of my country!" Sauvorel swam in the second heat on 12 August, finishing sixth in the heat and 85th overall with a time of 37.15 seconds. This was outside of the qualifying time required to reach the following round. She later explained that she felt her prospects were reduced after becoming stressed about competing the day before her swim. She said that she hoped that it was "only the beginning of a beautiful story", as she had reduced her personal best time by seven seconds since the previous championship.

World Championships

In 2019, she represented Central African Republic at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. She competed in the

event. She did not advance to compete in the semi-finals. In 2019, she also represented Central African Republic at the 2019 African Games held in Rabat, Morocco. She competed in the

and

women's 100 metre freestyle A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

events.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauvourel, Chloe 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Nantes French female freestyle swimmers French sportspeople of Central African Republic descent Central African Republic female freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for the Central African Republic Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics African Games competitors for the Central African Republic Swimmers at the 2019 African Games Central African Republic people of French descent