Nicolas d’Oriano has just obtained his diploma from SKEMA. A high-level swimmer, he notably participated in the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. He talks about his passion for this sport and the way he juggled between his studies and swimming.
The academic career of Nicolas d’Oriano
Can you go back over your journey?
I left my parents at 15 to go to high school and Pôle France in Toulouse. After the baccalaureate, I wanted to go into GEA, but it was in 2015-2016 and it was the year of the Rio Games, so I preferred to take a break to concentrate on sport. I arrived in Marseille and stayed there for two years. Because of training schedules, it was impossible to go to class and so I cut myself off from the school system.
I then changed clubs, going to Antibes and I was able to join the BBA at SKEMA, while training 25 to 30 hours a week. It was the only training that allowed me to juggle classes and sport. I was able to follow an almost normal course, without doubling my years. My goal is to join a master’s degree in market finance at the start of the 2023 school year.
How do you manage to juggle classes and swimming?
This year I’m in Raleigh [SKEMA possède un campus à Raleigh, aux USA, NDLR]it’s different. It’s much easier. The training sessions are designed so that we don’t miss any classes. They start at 5:30 a.m.
Otherwise, in France, during my first three years of study, I had to combine 11 training sessions per week, 3 weight training sessions and classes. I missed 60% to 70% of my classes which were from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., while my training started at 3 p.m. During my entire schooling, I only did half of the courses. I was used to working alone on my own to catch up on everything.
I have already had to take exams on competition days, have to submit homework and work during championships. It was a challenge, but it gave me an ability to work that will be useful to me in the world of work.
Beginnings in swimming
What inspired you to take up swimming?
I live next to the sea, near Toulon. My mother was a swimmer and she wanted her child to know how to swim. So I started when I was 3 or 4 years old. Around the age of 7, I played football. I preferred this sport and wanted to stop swimming, but the pleasure of the competition pushed me to continue. I always wanted to be the best and I was the best in my group, then in my department, in the region, nationally, until reaching the Olympic Games in 2016.
During your career, you were for a time at the Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille (CNM), one of the largest French swimming clubs. How did it feel to integrate it?
I did the TOEC Dauphins, the Antibes Swimming Circle and the CNM. It’s the most iconic, but CN Antibes and the Dauphins are also huge clubs. It’s an ultra-professional world. It is the only place in France that approaches swimming as a professional sport. Relations with the club are good, but we are there for performance. The day it no longer works, we let you know and rightly so, since we are paid like professionals. We are therefore waiting for results.
French Championships, Olympic Games… Major competitions
You are a triple French champion and double European junior champion. How do you approach these big competitions?
I worked a lot and it could have been detrimental to me. I spent half my career overtraining. Afterwards, each race is different. There is not a single one that is the same. The first is generally the most difficult, because you don’t know where you stand in relation to the other swimmers. Each race is really different, some are just hell and we just want it to end. It really depends on its condition, its shape.
What is your sports routine before these championships?
Preparation generally takes place over 3 to 4 months. The work is long and hard at the beginning. We swim a lot of kilometers and the training sessions are very long. During the second month, things change and the work is shorter, but more intense. The last three weeks before the competition, we are in the process of sharpening. We maintain the intensity, but the training time is reduced.
You participated in the Rio Olympics in 2016. How did it go?
At the time of the Games, it was chaos in my head. I had decided to leave the TOEC Dolphins to join the CNM. This is an important decision for me. I had not prepared to participate in the Olympics. Even though it was my goal, I didn’t think I would qualify. The end of the season was complicated. The race did not go well. The next day, I had the biggest injury of my career: the cruciate ligaments.
It’s very complicated to come out of a race where you know you underperformed. When I fail my race, I tell myself that I disappointed those who stayed up to watch me. Right after, I have to face the looks and the microphones. The stress of the Olympics, the fact of changing structure and the disappointment of the race undoubtedly contributed to my injury.
Have you tried Tokyo 2020?
I attempted to participate, but did not make the necessary qualifying times. I’ve been through so much. I started the 2020-2021 Olympic season with a retinal detachment and an emergency operation which led to immobilization for more than a month. All this happened after three months of confinement, without training.
The future of Nicolas d’Oriano
What about Paris 2024?
If I have the means to make the Olympics, I will. It’s not something that can be refused. The choice will rather come from my professional project. Today, I have to organize my life outside of swimming. No swimmer saw it, apart from a few big names. I have very big ambitions on the professional side. I want to continue with a master’s degree. However, I have a little voice in my head and I’m trying to find out if the Games are worth putting my professional project aside. After the Olympics, I will be 27 years old.
How do you see yourself in a few years?
After 2024, no matter what happens during the Paris Olympics, I will no longer swim. I will surely be busy with my professional projects. I really want to do a master’s degree in market finance, although I remain open to corporate finance.
