2019 French Elite Nationals: Day 4 Prelims Recap

2019 FRENCH ELITE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS– 50M

• Tuesday 16th to Sunday 21st April 2019
• Prelims from 9.30am; final C from 18:00; final A / B from 18h30
• Host: Brittany Regional Swimming League
• Bréquigny swimming pool, 12 boulevard Albert 1er, RENNES
• 50m
• French qualifying rules for 2019 World Championships
• Start list: available here
• Results: available here

WOMEN’S 50 BACK

• FINA “A” : 28.22
• French Qualifying Time For World Champs : 27.81
• French Record : 27.86 – Béryl Gastaldello (CN Marseille) – 04/08/2018 – Glasgow (GBR)
• Favorites : Béryl Gastaldello (CN Marseille), 27.86; Mathilde Cini (Valence Triathlon), 28.29; Lila Touili (CN Marseille), 28.51

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Béryl Gastaldello – 27.88
2. Lila Touili – 28.52
3. Pauline Mahieu – 28.92
4. Mathilde Jean – 29.25
5. Mathilde Cini – 29.28
6. Alexe Herthe – 29.55
7. Laurine Del’Homme – 29.66
8. Amel Melih – 29.80

Béryl Gastaldello took the top seed for finals, narrowly missing both her own French National Record and the French qualifying standard for World Champs. Her time of 27.88 was just 0.02 seconds off the French Record, and just 0.07 second of the time it would take to qualify for World Champs. Gastaldello already qualified for Worlds in the 100 back earlier in the meet, but also narrowly missed qualifying for the 100 fly.

Gastaldello is the favorite to take the title again this year, having finished well over half a second ahead of runner-up Lila Touili this morning. She has also dropped time in every event from prelims to finals at this meet, so there is a chance we see the French Record come down tonight.

MEN’S 100 FREE

• FINA “A” : 48.80
• French Qualifying Time For World Champs: 48.73
• French Record: 46.94 – Alain Bernard (CN Antibes) – 23/04/2009 – Montpellier
• Favorites : Mehdy Metella (CN Marseille), 48.24; Jérémy Stravius (Amiens Métropole Natation), 48.81; Clément Mignon (CN Marseille), 48.84

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Clément Mignon – 48.43
2. Oussama Sahnoune – 48.51
3. Mehdy Metella – 48.58
4. Tom Paco Pedroni – 48.72
5. Jérémy Stravius – 48.83
6. Maxime Grousset – 49.09
7. Jordan Pothain – 49.67
8. Kyllian Brenon – 50.21

3 French swimmers hit the French Qualifying time for Worlds in this event. Clément Mignon led the way, taking the top seed for finals with a 48.43, under the qualifying standard of 48.73. Oussama Sahnoune was 2nd this morning, but Algerian, and is not competing for a spot on the French Worlds roster. Mehdy Metella was 3rd this morning, clocking a 48.58, and Tom Paco Pedroni was 4th with a 48.72, just 0.01 seconds under the qualifying standard. Metella was already qualified for Worlds in the 100 free, thanks to his medalling in the event at the European Championships last Summer. Now, in order to complete the process of qualifying for Worlds, Mignon or Pedrini will have to finish in the top two in tonight’s final.

France also qualified their first relay for Worlds with these swims this morning. In order to qualify, the 2nd-5th fastest French swimmers this morning had to post times that added up to 3:15.52 or faster. Those 4 swimmers are Mehdy Metella (48.58), Tom Paco Pedrini (48.72), Jérémy Stravius (48.83), and Maxime Grousset (49.09), and their times add up to 3:15.14, clearing the qualifying standard.

WOMEN’S 200 FLY

• FINA “A” : 2:09.21
• French Qualifying Time For World Champs: 2:09.13
• French Record: 2:05.09 – Aurore Mongel (Mulhouse ON) – 29/07/2009 – Rome (ITA)
• Favorites : Lara Grangeon (CN Calédoniens), 2:11.83; Margaux Fabre (Canet 66 Natation), 2:13.33; Gwladys Larzul (Dauphins Toulouse), 2:13.81

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Lara Grangeon – 2:12.50
2. Camille Cottier – 2:14.51
3. Gwladys Larzul – 2:16.30
4. Faustine Barale – 2:17.40
5. Alice Aubry – 2:17.70
6. Sarah Oualid Girard – 2:18.48
7. Alexia Bouteilly – 2:18.59
8. Sarah Moreau – 2:19.05

Lara Grangeon took the top seed for tonight’s final by 2 seconds, but missed the FINA A cut and French Qualifying standard by over 3 seconds. Grangeon had the fastest split in the field on all 4 50s. She split 29.86 on the 1st 50, followed by 34.12, 34.64, 33.88 respectively for her time of 2:12.50.

Margaux Fabre, one of our favorites in this event before the meet, did not end up swimming the event this morning.

MEN’S 200 IM

• FINA “A” : 2:00.22
• French Qualifying Time For World Champs: 1:59.65
• French Record: 1:57.89 – Jérémy Stravius (Amiens Métropole Natation) – 11/04/2013 – Rennes
• Favorites : Jeremy Desplanches (SUI, Olympic Nice Natation), 1:57.06; Clément Bidard (Mulhouse ON), 2:00.83; Léon Marchand (Dauphins Toulouse), 2:01.91

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Jeremy Desplanches – 2:00.61
2. Samy Helmbacher – 2:00.63
3. Leon Marchand – 2:01.80
4. Theo Berry – 2:02.02
5. Clément Bidard – 2:02.24
6. Guillaume Laure – 2:02.46
7. Taki M’Rabet – 2:04.10
8. Geoffrey Renard – 2:04.24

There were two non-French swimmers that made the A final for tonight. Swiss Im star Jeremy Desplanches turned in the top time of the morning, hitting the wall in 2:00.61. Tunisia’s Taki M’Rabet was 7th this morning, touching in 2:00.63. Desplanches broke his own Swiss Record in the 400 IM earlier in the meet, and he may do the same in the 200 IM in finals.

Samy Helmbacher was the top French swimmer of the morning, touching in a personal best of 2:00.63. That time was 0.98 seconds off the French Qualifying standard for Worlds. Helmbacher had the fastest back half of anyone in the field. He split a 34.40 on breaststroke and 29.35 on freestyle, both of which were the fastest splits from anyone in the field.

WOMEN’S 400 IM

• FINA “A” : 4:43.06
• French Qualifying Time For World Champs: 4:39.59
• French Record: 4:34.17 – Fantine Lesaffre (Montpellier Métropole Natation) – 03/08/2018 – Glasgow (GBR)
• Favorites : Fantine Lesaffre (Stade de Vanves), 4:34.17; Lara Grangeon (CN Calédoniens), 4:40.02; Cyrielle Duhamel (Stade Béthune Pélican Club), 4:41.14

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Fantine Lesaffre – 4:40.59
2. Cyrielle Duhamel – 4:45.86
3. Lara Grangeon – 4:53.53
4. Camille Tissandie – 4:57.62
5. Naome Horter – 4:58.75
6. Alexandra Dobrin – 5:00.45
7. Juliette Drevet – 5:00.71
8. Vera Lowe – 5:01.60

Fantine lessfre was the fastest swimmer this morning, turning in a 4:40.59. Lessafre was off her best time of 4:34.17, which also stands as the Franch National Record. Lessafre missed the qualifying standard for Worlds, but was already qualified due to her having medalled in the event at the European Championships last Summer. Lara Grangeon and Cyrielle Duhamel were also to be potential World Champs qualifiers in this event, but both added time significantly this morning, and did not achieve the qualifying standard.

MEN’S 800 FREE

• FINA “A” : 7:54.31
• French Qualifying Time For World Champs: 7:51.06
• French Record : 7:48.28 – Sébastien Rouault (Mulhouse ON) – 13/08/2010 – Budapest (HUN)
• Favorites : David Aubry (Montpellier Métropole Natation), 7:50.09; Damien Joly (Montpellier Métropole Natation), 7:52.54; Paul Beaugrand (CN Antibes), 7:56.23

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Damien Joly – 7:51.54
2. David Aubry – 7:51.82
3. Joris Bouchat – 7:58.86
4. Paul Beaugrand – 7:58.87
5. Marc-Antoine Olivier – 8:00.07
6. Ahmed-Ayoub Hafnaoui – 8:01.31
7. Logan Fontaine – 8:04.00
8. Tommy-Lee Camblong – 8:05.95

After qualifying for Worlds in the 1500 earlier in the meet, Damien Joly and David Aubry both narrowly missed the qualifying standard in the 800 free this morning. Both swimmers did hit the FINA A cut of 7:54.31, however. Joly beat out Aubry by just 0.28 seconds this morning. What made the difference for Joly over Aubry this morning was that Joly only split 30-point on one 50 in the race, while Aubry split 30-point 3 times, the rest were all under :30. Like the 1500, the final of this race is probably going to be a race between Joly and Aubry.

2019 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS: