Monaco’s Lisa Pou brought her European Open Water Championships campaign to a close on the morning of Friday, August 7, competing in the 3km knockout sprint, her third and final event in Paris after the 10km and 5km races earlier in the week.
In the fast-paced, elimination-style event, Pou saw her hopes of reaching the final slip away by the narrowest of margins, missing the cut by just one hundredth of a second. It was a cruel way to end her championships, with the result meaning Pou departs Paris without a medal from this year’s competition.
Despite a build-up disrupted by a bacterial infection that had significantly weakened her heading into the championships, Pou described herself as satisfied with her performances across the week in Paris. The Monégasque swimmer arrived at the championships as one of the field’s leading contenders, having won bronze in the 10km at last year’s World Championships and reached the European 10km final on two previous occasions, ultimately finishing sixth in that event on Tuesday, despite the illness that had disrupted her preparation.
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