It was not the result she expected, but then again when you compete against the world’s best you better be at your best. For whatever reason, St Lucia’s Danielle Beaubrun was nowhere near her best on Sunday, when she swam the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2012 London Olympics finishing sixth in her heat out of eight swimmers.
Although her personal best in the event is 1:10.63, in a 50 metre pool built for speed at the Aquatic Centre, Beaubrun swam a disappointing 1:11.12. Tjasa Vozel (Slovakia) won the heat in a time of 1:09.63. Anna Sztankovics of Hungary was second (1:09.65) with Fanny Babou of France third (1:09.76).
The best do not always win and if you ask most athletes they will tell you, a lot depends on how you feel on the day of competition.
How did Beaubrun feel on her big day? She said: “I was really excited, my warm up was really good, my pace and my tempo was right on par. Right behind in the call room I was really overwhelmed and nervous. I tried to disregard those feelings but I think my nerves got the best of me.”
It also didn’t help her cause having to swim in lane one, where it seems like your swimming against yourself. For her though it did not make a difference.
“Some people think it’s a disadvantage because you have the wake from the entire pool” said Beaubrun. “It is not ideal but you do not want to think of it as a disadvantage, because it is a time and a chance to do something special, so really and truly you do not want to think of lane one as being a bad lane.”
Beaubrun had a VIP cheering section which included Her Excellency, Governor General, Dame Pearlette Louisy; Prime Minister, Dr Kenny Anthony and his wife; President of the St Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC), Richard Peterkin along with First Vice President, Fortuna Belrose.
When asked to describe her performance Beaubrun replied: “I did the best I could. My first 50 was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was a good first 50 split. I think just coming home I panicked, I starting spinning.”
To her, the time was the worst of times knowing she could have done a lot better. Frustration and disappointment punctuated this interview as she spoke about the training and hard work “for this one race and one shot.”
She made no excuses for her sub par performance and felt everything was in place in getting her ready for the greatest show on earth.
“I had a great season and I am the strongest I have ever been,” said Beaubrun. “I actually think ideally I should have gone a lot faster. There is nothing I would change about my preparation.”
Next on deck for St Lucia’s Olympic team was Beth Lygoe who competed on Monday in sailing, in the radial laser class. After that St Lucian athletes turn their attention to track and field. Darvin Edwards competes in men’s high jump on August 5 while Levern Spencer gets her turn in ladies high jump on August 9.
Spencer was again St Lucia’s flag bearer at spectacular opening ceremony on Friday which celebrated British history and culture.
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