2021 French Olympic Trials: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

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

We are carrying on with racing at the 2021 French Elite Swimming Championships in Chartres France. As of the end of day 3, the French Olympic roster sits at 14 with 13 individual event swimmers and 1 relay-only competitor.

Today we will get out first look at Olympic gold medalist Florent Manaudou who will race the 100 freestyle with a shot at adding that event to his Olympic program. He is currently qualified to race the men’s 50 freestyle. Manaudou will be joined by a solid lineup of men including Maxime Grousset, Clément Mignon, Mehdy Metella, and many more.

Lara Grangeon has missed out on qualifying for the Olympics in both the 1500 freestyle and 400 IM thus far but will be back again to race the women’s 200 butterfly. She’s the top seed there with a 2:09.50 which is a bit more than a second over the 2:08.43 it will take to qualify.

Grangeon will also be contesting the women’s 800 freestyle alongside Russian Olympian Anna Egorova and fellow open water swimmer Oceane Cassignol. There, the time to beat in the 800 will be an 8:42.17 in prelims and 8:26.43 in final.

Adding to the action, Antoine Viquerat and Antoine Marc will be among those racing the 200 breaststroke and are entered with a 2:11.44 and the 2:11.95, respectively.

Men’s 50 Backstroke

• 24.07 – Camille Lacourt (2010)

Yohann Ndoye Brouard and Mewen Tomac battled it out earlier this week during the men’s 100 backstroke with Tomac ultimately taking the title. Here, Jeremy Stravius and Stanislas Huille joined the duo with prelim swims of 25.34 and 25.46, respectively, while Brouard swam a 25.36 swim and Tomac a 25.47.

3 of them have been a bit quicker before with Stravius having swum a 24.45 back in August 2013, Brouard holding a PB of 24.94 from December 2020, and Tomac a 24.94 from that same month. Huille on the other hand was a little closer to his PB of 25.33 from April 2019.

They will need decent PBs in the final should they wish to crack the decade-long French record of 24.07 held by Camille Lacourt.

The 2 will go up against each other again in the final and will feature more competition than they did in the 100 in the form of the 3 other sub-26 swimmers during the morning, among others.

Women’s 50 Backstroke

• 27.86 – Beryl Gastaldello (2018)

Analia Pigree came out flying in the prelims of the 50 backstroke and delivered a new French record of 27.81, getting under Beryl Gastsaldello‘s 2018 mark of 27.86. That swim for Pigree was nearly half a second faster than her former PB in the event which was a 28.30, set only a few months ago in February 2021.

Finishing second in the prelims, Mary-Ambre Moluh also shaved half of a second off her previous best. Heading into the race with a 28.37 from March 2021, Moluh notched a 27.87 morning swim which was only 0.01 seconds slower than Gastaldello’s former record.

Switzerland’s Nina Kost was third during the prelims with a 28.36 which was right around her recent swims at the 2021 European Championships where she swam a 28.37 during the prelims of the event and a 28.30 in the semis.

Mathilde Cini also dipped under 29 here, posting a 28.99 for fourth place heading in finals while Pauline Mahieu and Alexe Herthe were 5th and 6th in a 29.03 and 29.43.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

• French Record: 2:08.94 – Hugues Duboscq (2009)
• Olympic Qualifying Standards: 2:14.26 in prelims and 2:10.35 in A-final

Jeremy Desplanches of Switzerland led the way here, hitting a 2:13.49 200 breaststroke prelims which is a bit off his December 2020 best time of 2:11.81. After him, France’s Antoine Viquerat notched a 2:13.69 fr second overall in the heats. Viquerat holds a similar PB to Desplanches, having hit a 2:11.44.

Clément Bidard was next as the third fastest man of the morning, posting a 2:14.27. That was 0.01 seconds slower than the 2:14.26 he needed to get under the prelims Olympic-qualifying standard this morning. That made Viquerat the only French man to clear the cut.

Bidard has been under the prelims qualification time this season with a 2:13.80 PB from December 2020.

Algeria’s Jaouad Syoud followed in the rankings with another sub-2:15 swim of 2:14.92. Syoud’s quickest time on record prior to that swim was a 2:21.42 from April 2019 meaning that his swim was a substantial PB.

Women’s 200 Butterfly

• French Record: 2:05.09 – Aurore Mongel (2009)
• Olympic Qualifying Standards: 2:12.28 in prelims and 2:08.43 in A-final

No women managed to get under the required prelims time of 2:12.71 in order to give them a shot at automatically qualifying for Tokyo.

Lucie Delmas lead the way with a 2:12.71 which was actually a bit faster than her 3rd place entry time of 2:13.27 but still over the 2:12.28 she needed.

Lara Grangeon followed by added a couple of seconds to the 2:09.50 she went in with, ending up with a 2:13.21 for second seed into the final.

Just as Grangeon did by going from top seed to 2nd, Lilou Ressencourt fell one place from 2nd seed to 3rd in the prelims with her 2:14.82, trailing her entry time of 2:11.88.

The three will be back tonight to try to get closer to that 2:08.43 finals cuts but will need some significant improvements from their morning swims in order to do so.

Men’s 100 Freestyle

• French Record: 46.94 – Alain Bernard (2009)
• Olympic Qualifying Standards: 50.03 in prelims and 48.57 in A-final

The 15 fastest men in the 10 freestyle prelims swam under the required prelims standard of 50.03. The field also including 4 swims under 49 and 1 swim under 48.

The sole 47 swimmer in the field was Maxime Grousset who took first overall with a 47.99, getting within 0.09 seconds of his 47.90 entry time. If Grousset can replicate that time tonight and fend off the tight field behind him, he should be expecting to get on the plane to Tokyo in a few weeks.

50 freestyle Olympic champion Florent Manaudou won’t be letting Grousset take the title easily, however, coming in with a 48.58 for second place. It’s still a little bit over his 48.20 entry time but Manaudou only really has to worry about the 100 at this meet since he’s already qualified for the 50 and will therefore be going full force tonight.

Mehdy Metella was next with another sub-49 swim, notching a 48.78 for 3rd seed overall while Charles Rihoux managed a 48.93. Metella’s time was a bit slower than his 48.27 entry but Rihoux showed improvement, getting down from the 49.04 he went in with.

Women’s 800 Freestyle

• French Record: 8:18.80 – Laure Manaudou (2007)
• Olympic Qualifying Standards: 8:42.17 in prelims and 8:26.43 in A-final

Russia’s Anna Egorova took first place in the women’s 800 freestyle prelims with an 8:41.51 morning swim, getting in ahead of France’s Adeline Furst who swam an 8:44.89.

Egorova has been quite a bit faster than what she swam here a number of times this season including when she hit an 8:24.35 PB in April and then swam an 8:27.51 in March and an 8:26.56 in April at the 2021 European Swimming Championships. Egorova will 400 and 800 freestyles this summer in Tokyo so this meet is likely serving as one of her final tuneups heading into the Games.

Furst’s swim of 8:44.89 was almost the exact same as her 8:44.14 entry time but bumped her up from 5th seed to 2nd seed heading into finals.

Maud Rodriguez also managed to climb up the rankings here, going from a 14th place seed with her 8:53.99 to a 3rd in the prelims with an 8:47.79. Furst and Rodiguez will lead the way into the final but were both a bit off the required prelims time of 8:42.17 that would help them earn consideration for Tokyo if they managed to get under the even faster 8:26.43 in the final.

1500 freestyle winner Aurélie Muller came back to place 4th overall in the prelims but added about 5 seconds to her 8:43.84 entry time, hitting an 8:49.33. Behind her, Lara Grangeon came in with an 8:51.43 just a few heats after racing a 2:13.21 200 butterfly.