2021 FRENCH ELITE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, June 15 – Sunday, June 20, 2021
- Piscine de l’Odyssée, Chartres, France
- Long Course Meters (50M)
- Olympic Selection Event
- French Olympic Qualifying Procedures
- Meet Site (LIVE FFN)
- List of Entrants
- Live Results
- Television rights: beIN SPORTS
Day 3 is here at the 2021 French Olympic Swimming Trials and we will get to see swimmers try to set themselves up for potential Olympic qualification in the men’s and women’s 200 freestyle, the men’s 200 butterfly, and the women’s 400 IM. Day 3 will also feature the women’s 50 breaststroke which is not an Olympic event.
Jordain Pothain holds the top seed in the men’s 200 freestyle with a 1:46.91 but will face fierce competition from the likes of countrymates Jonathan Atsu (1:47.47) and Enzo Tesic (1:47.94). On the women’s side of the event, Olympian Charlotte Bonnet is entered with a 1:56.19 which is a decent amount ahead of the second-fastest French women in the event Margaux Fabre (1:58.54).
Following his Tokyo-qualifying swim in the 400 IM on day 1, Leon Marchand has a shot at adding a second event to his Olympic lineup. Marchand is entered as the fastest man in the event and holds a 1:56.33 which is the only time under the FINA A qualifying standard of 1:56.48.
As for the 400 IM, Fantine Lesaffre will also be gunning to qualify for a second event in Tokyo. Lesaffre qualified earlier this week to swim the 200 IM along with Cyrielle Duhamel.
Women’s 50 Breaststroke – Prelims
- French Record – 30.96 – Sophie de Ronchi (2009)
After a second-place finish in the women’s 100 breaststroke, Justine Delmas returned on day 3 to post the top qualifying time in the 50 breast by hitting a 32.17. That’s slightly faster than her current PB in the event which sits at a 31.85.
Delmas jumped from 3rd seed heading into the event to top seed and following her, Meghan Frouin went from 4th seed to second with a swim of 32.27. That was only slightly slower than her current PB in the event of 32.19.
Coming in with a 32.34, Solène Gallego will advance to the finals as third seed while 100 breaststroke victor and top seed before prelims Fanny Deberghes was a 32.36 for 4th this morning.
Men’s 200 Freestyle – Prelims
- French Record: 1:43.14 – Yannick Agnel (2012)
- Olympic Qualifying Standards: 1:50.23 in prelims and 1:47.02 in A-final
It will be a tough battle tonight for both the French title and the Olympic qualifying spots in the men’s 200 freestyle as the top 7 qualifiers are separated by less than a second.
Jordan Pothain went in as top seed with a 1:46.91 and managed to deliver the fastest swim of the morning with a 1:47.68. That swim got him to the wall a little bit ahead of Johnathan Atsu who was just over his 1:47.47 entry time with a 1:47.79 for second.
Hadrien Salvan has a solid improvement upon his entry time with a 1:47.83 prelims swim, getting down from the 1:49.33 that he went in with. That time improvement also translated to a decent jump from 11th seed in the event to a 3rd place spot heading into the final.
France’s newest Olympian Mewen Tomac came back on day 3 after winning the 100 backstroke title and hit a 1:48.10 here for 4th seed overall. Like Salvan, Tomac improved upon his entry position and time, beating his 7th place 1:48.32 entry.
Enzo Tesic was 5th here with a 1:48.37 while Mehdi Lagili, Roman Mityukov, and Amazigh Yebba Wissam rounded out the top 8. Considering that Lagili is from Tunisia and there is only one non-French swimmer permitted in each final, Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov will be bumped to the B final and 9th place finisher in the prelims Roman Fuchs will move into the A.
The battle will be on tonight for a spot in the top 2 but the men will also have a shot to qualify for Tokyo should they get into the top 4 considering that France has qualified to race the men’s 4×200 relay in Tokyo.
Women’s 200 Freestyle – Prelims
- French Record: 1:54.66 – Camille Muffat (2012)
- Olympic Qualifying Standards: 2:00.80 in prelims and 1:57.28 in A-final
Charlotte Bonnet managed to crack 2 minutes here with a 1:59.72 getting under the 2:00.80 minimum time standard for prelims. Bonnet has been as fast as a 1:56.19 before and will need to get closer to that during the finals in order to get an individual spot in the event in Tokyo.
After Bonnet, Assia Touati was a 2:00.20 for second seed overall which was just slower than her 1:59.97 6th place seed. Touati was the only French woman other than Bonnet to get under the required 2:00.80.
Russia’s Anna Egorova followed with a 2:00.20 for third seed this morning, while Margaux Fabre notched a 2:01.24.
Orlane Hita, Lucile Tessariol, and Alizée Morel filled out the top 7 spots during the prelims and will advance to the A final while Great Britain’s Candice Hall was 8th overall but will be bumped to the B final considering that Anna Egorova has taken the sole international slot in the final. Without Hall, Oceane Carnez will move into the A final with her 2:02.10 from the morning.
Men’s 200 Butterfly – Prelims
- French Record: 2:05.09 – Aurore Mongel (2009)
- Olympic Qualifying Standards: 1:59.97 in prelims and 1:56.48 in A-final
Swiss swimmer Jeremy Desplanches was the quickest man in the 200 butterfly prelims and one of 2 men with a sub-2:00 swim. He swam a 1:58.89 to win the heats which was a bit slower than the 1:57.58 he was entered with as well as the 1:55.18 Swiss record held by Noè Ponti.
Behind him, Jaouad Syoud posted a 1:59.42 for second overall but since Desplanches will take the sole non-French spot in the A final, Syoud’s second swim will come in the B final.
Matthias Marsau and Leon Marchand followed but they were both a bit slower than the prelims standard 0f 1:59.97 and Marsau hit a 2:00.02 and Marchand a 2:00.51. Both of those times were slower than their respective entry times of 1:59.20 and 1:56.33.
Women’s 400 IM – Prelims
- French Record: 4:34.17 – Fantine Lesaffre (2018)
- Olympic Qualifying Standards: 4:46.89 in prelims and 4:38.53 in A-final
It looks like it will be a good battle between Lara Grangeon and Fantine Lesaffre during the finals session as their morning swims were separated by only 0.06 seconds.
Grangeon was a 4:45.69 to claim top seed heading into the finals, trailing her entry time of 4:40.93 by a few seconds. Lesaffre on the other hand was a 4:45.75 in the morning which was a decent amount off her the 4:37.40 that she went in with.
Grangeon and Lesaffre will need to be a bit faster tonight in order to nab their spots on the Tokyo team in the 400 IM considering the 4:38.53 qualifying time. Grangeon has not yet made the team while Lesaffre has earned a nomination in the 200 IM.
Trailing the leading duo, Emma Lebre posted a 5:00.41 and will head into the A final as 3rd seed while Lea Musser swam a 5:01.09 to establish 4th.
