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Valentine DUMONT
Sport Swimming
NOC Belgium   
GenderWomen
Born02 Jul 2000 in Liège, BEL
Height1.79 m
 Human Interest 
Further Personal Information
Residence
Namur, BEL
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team
Namur Olympic Club: Belgium
Further Personal Information
Higher education
Medicine - University of Liege: Belgium
General Interest
Famous relatives
Her cousin Juliette Dumont competed for Belgium in swimming at the 2016 and 2018 European Championships. (SportsDeskOnline, 28 Jan 2021; teambelgium.be, 10 Oct 2019)
Awards and honours
She was named Athlete of the Year for 2020 by C'est du Belge magazine in Belgium. (Instagram profile, 22 May 2021; C'est du Belge Facebook page, 03 Apr 2021)
Sport Specific Information
Name of coach
Ronald Claes, from 2015
Training Regime
She trains six days a week. She does two sessions a day totalling 30 hours a week.
When and where did you begin this sport?
She began swimming at age seven.
Further Personal Information
Occupation
Athlete, Student
Languages
English, French
General Interest
Other information
TOKYO DISAPPOINTMENT
She did not compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo despite receiving an invitation from the International Swimming Federation [FINA] to participate. The Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee [COIB] did not select her for the Games as she had not met the internal criteria specified by the COIB. "I am very disappointed not to participate in the Olympic Games because it was an important goal for me. For five years, I worked hard and put in a lot of effort to achieve this goal. When I received the invitation from FINA, I was very happy, excited to be able to represent my country and felt rewarded for all the hard work. The same evening, when I learned of the COIB's refusal, I felt a lot of incomprehension and frustration. I'm sure I will find the strength to bounce back, I haven't lost my passion and motivation for swimming and I will fight to come back even stronger even if for the moment it is difficult." (lesoir.be, 02 Jul 2021; lavenir.net, 04 Jul 2021; Instagram profile, 19 Jul 2021)

STUDIES
She has balanced her swimming with studying medicine. "I've always wanted to do this, I played doctor as a child. During high school I wondered if I wanted this because my parents are also doctors. Then I started looking at other professions, but this is really what I want to do. I feel most useful when I can help people." (rtbf.be, 02 May 2021; sporza.be, 08 Dec 2020)

 Competition Highlights
World Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
Heats 2024 Doha, QAT 400m Freestyle 4:10.96
13 2024 Doha, QAT 200m Freestyle 1:58.57
15 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 8:06.56
Heats 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 400m Freestyle 4:10.09
Semifinal 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 200m Freestyle 1:57.97
Heats 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:54.06
Heats 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
17 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 8:06.94
17 2022 Budapest, HUN 200m Freestyle 1:58.86
Heats 2022 Budapest, HUN 400m Freestyle 4:13.33
20 2022 Budapest, HUN 100m Freestyle 55.14
Heats 2019 Gwangju, KOR 200m Butterfly 2:13.78
Heats 2019 Gwangju, KOR 400m Freestyle 4:12.92
Semifinal 2019 Gwangju, KOR 200m Freestyle 1:58.78
Heats 2019 Gwangju, KOR 100m Freestyle 54.90
World Championships Short Course
Rank Year Venue Event Result
Heats 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 200m Freestyle 1:55.80
Heats 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 400m Freestyle 4:07.37
Heats 2022 Melbourne, VIC, AUS 100m Freestyle 53.77
Heats 2021 Abu Dhabi, UAE 800m Freestyle 8:29.17
Heats 2021 Abu Dhabi, UAE 200m Freestyle 1:57.56
Heats 2021 Abu Dhabi, UAE 400m Freestyle 4:09.35
European Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
Semifinal 2022 Rome, ITA 100m Freestyle 55.24
7 2022 Rome, ITA 400m Freestyle 4:10.51
Semifinal 2022 Rome, ITA 200m Freestyle 1:59.50
Heats 2021 Budapest, HUN 400m Freestyle 4:15.75
7 2021 Budapest, HUN 200m Freestyle 1:58.78
Heats 2021 Budapest, HUN 100m Freestyle 55.35
7 2021 Budapest, HUN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 8:04.89
Heats 2018 Glasgow, SCO 400m Freestyle 4:16.75
Semifinal 2018 Glasgow, SCO 200m Freestyle 1:58.89
  2018 Glasgow, SCO 100m Freestyle DNS
Heats 2016 London, ENG 400m Freestyle 4:17.11
Heats 2016 London, ENG 200m Freestyle 2:03.27
7 2016 London, ENG 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 8:02.67
European Championships Short Course
Rank Year Venue Event Result
Semifinal 2023 Otopeni, ROU 200m Butterfly 2:09.81
3 2023 Otopeni, ROU 400m Freestyle 4:00.84
Semifinal 2023 Otopeni, ROU 200m Freestyle 1:55.14
Semifinal 2023 Otopeni, ROU 100m Freestyle 54.08
Heats 2019 Glasgow, SCO 400m Freestyle 4:07.30
Heats 2019 Glasgow, SCO 200m Freestyle 1:56.26
Semifinal 2019 Glasgow, SCO 100m Freestyle 53.36
Heats 2017 Copenhagen, DEN 800m Freestyle 8:37.08
Heats 2017 Copenhagen, DEN 400m Freestyle 4:08.60
Heats 2017 Copenhagen, DEN 200m Butterfly 2:09.84
6 2017 Copenhagen, DEN 200m Freestyle 1:55.67
World Cup
Rank Year Venue Event Result
53 2023   Overall Ranking  
8 2023 Athens, GRE 200m Butterfly 2:16.02
8 2023 Athens, GRE 400m Freestyle 4:15.54
7 2023 Athens, GRE 100m Freestyle 55.87
6 2022 Berlin, GER 400m Freestyle 4:04.43
4 2022 Berlin, GER 800m Freestyle 8:28.29
6 2022 Berlin, GER 200m Freestyle 1:55.35
9 2022 Indianapolis, IN, USA 800m Freestyle 8:33.66
7 2022 Indianapolis, IN, USA 200m Freestyle 1:56.26
4 2019 Tokyo, JPN 200m Freestyle 1:58.63
8 2019 Tokyo, JPN 100m Butterfly 59.31