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Ugo CROUSILLATCaptain of the French water polo teambecomes TOPSEC ambassador
Since November 2022, TOPSEC has been an official partner of the French men’s water polo team through the French Swimming Federation. It’s a partnership that comes naturally to us because of our history, since our President and founder Thierry ALIMONDO was captain of the French water polo team and took part in the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992.
We are now fortunate to have the current captain of the French water polo team, Ugo CROUSILLAT, as our new TOPSEC ambassador.
A shared history between Ugo CROUSILLAT and TOPSEC
As a child, Ugo tried his hand at a number of sports, including tennis and volleyball, before discovering water polo at the age of 10 at the Cercles des Nageurs de Marseille, where he trained and chose to make it his profession. Ugo played in Italy, Montenegro and Hungary, before moving on to Aix-en-Provence, before returning to his club in Marseille, where he is now in his 4th season.
It’s a passion transmited by his father Marc CROUSILLAT, who played in the same team and was close to our President Thierry ALIMONDO, who was also at the Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille and in the French national team. This explains the strong bond we now have with Ugo and our desire to follow his development and support him as a top-level polo player.
Shared goals and values with the French water polo team
We are proud and moved by this collaboration with the captain of the team, as we share not only a history but also common values and objectives. Alongside him, we will be able to show the day-to-day life of a top-level player, and follow the team as it travels, trains and plays up to the world water polo championships and then the sports events in 2024.
This partnership will also enable us to introduce the general public to this sport, through training sessions in our partner pools, conferences and by offering the opportunity to attend some of the team’s matches.
We also want to continue to pass on the values of this sport to our in-house teams at TOPSEC, such as a taste for challenge, sharing common goals, determination and self-sacrifice.
These values have enabled us to become the leader in the automatic distribution of sports and leisure articles (swimming pool, tennis/padel, fitness, horse riding, cycling, ice rink) in Europe and we naturally intend to go even further and take up new challenges ourselves.
Water polo, a highly demanding and all-round sport
Water polo is an all-round sport that combines physical and mental skills and physical stamina that are recognised in other sports.
As well as mastering the ball, there are many other aspects to work on, such as moving quickly, which requires an excellent swimming ability. There is also physical contact like in rugby, shooting like in handball, impulsion like in volleyball and wrestling like in judo.
Earlier this year, water polo was even voted the world’s most difficult sport at top level. To achieve such good results, the days of the French polo team are punctuated by training sessions both in the pool and in the weight room.
Discover the interview with Ugo Crousillat, captain of the French water polo team: