Tiphanie, would you please introduce yourself briefly?
I was admitted to the SOS Children's Village Calais on 27 December 2000, along with my two sisters and three brothers. My SOS mother is Brigitte Rambaud; I have been living with her for seven and a half years. I turned sixteen two months ago and attend a sports high school in Dunkirk (Dunkerque), which focuses on swimming.
How did you get into that school?
After I was admitted to the SOS Children's Village in Calais, I started doing Judo and sailing, and I also signed up for the swimming club in Calais. That's where I was "discovered" and someone suggested I should try out for the sports high school. Jean-Laurent, Brigitte's husband, coached me all summer for the entrance test, I owe it to him that I passed.
How were your first few weeks in Dunkirk?
It was hellish!!! I went from two training sessions per week in Calais to two training sessions per day in Dunkirk, swimming ten to twelve kilometres every day! The boarding school in Dunkirk during the week, the distance to Calais and the SOS Children's Village also made life hard for me; I was only 13, after all! I couldn't live up to those expectations, and had no choice but to repeat the school year.
The following year, things took a good turn: I made the junior national team and won several races, especially the relays.
Where do you stand right now?
Ever since September, I have been taking part in the French Championships (I even swam alongside Laure Manaudou!), and have done two weeks of hard training in Spain together with my club - once in February and once more around Easter. The weight training is starting to pay off, at least judging by what the stopwatch says.
My equipment is supplied by Arena, my first sponsor, you might say!!!
Any plans for the summer?
First of all, I will be competing in the French Championships in Lille in July [Editor's remark: Tiphanie won a silver medal there in the 4 x 200m Freestyle relay]. Then in August, I'm travelling to Beijing to be involved in the Olympic Games, together with 17 other young French athletes, each representing their sports discipline in the national federation. I will be there representing the French swimming federation FFN.
What are your hopes for the next school year?
I want to keep on getting better, so that I get accepted into the French National Team as soon as possible.