2025 Giant Open Day Two: Harvey Becomes Canada’s #3 400 Free Performer

2025 GIANT OPEN (FRA)

• Friday, May 9th – Sunday, May 11th
• Saint-Denis, France
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Results

25-year-old Mary-Sophie Harvey of Canada continued her siege into day two of the 2025 Giant Open taking place in Saint-Denis, France.

Harvey already won two golds on day one and added two additional wins to her hardware haul, courtesy of her podium-topping performances in the women’s 400m free and 200m breast.

In the former, the Olympian stopped the clock at 4:05.42 to get to the wall over 5 seconds ahead of the field.

The next-closest competitor was host country swimmer Anastasia Kirpichnikova who touched in 4:10.54 followed by Anna Egorova who registered 4:14.12.

For Harvey, her 4:05.42 outing established a new Giant Open record and wiped out her previous lifetime best in the event.

Entering this competition, Harvey’s career-quickest mark was represented by the 4:07.70 notched last year in Rome. Her performance here now renders her Canada’s 3rd-swiftest performer in history. Only Olympian medalist Summer McIntosh (3:56.08) and Brittany MacLean (4:03.43) have been faster.

She now ranks 8th in the world this season.

As for the 200m breast, Harvey posted a winning time of 2:24.22 for another decisive victory by over 4 seconds.

Harvey opened in 1:09.48 and closed in 1:14.74 to get the job done and put up another personal best. Her time here overtook her previous best-ever performance of 2:25.14 logged earlier this season.

Greek ace Apostolos Siskos put on a show in the men’s 200m back, establishing a new Giant Open record of 1:55.18

The 19-year-old split 56.91/58.27 to touch well ahead of Antoine Herlem who clocked 1:57.62 just a hair ahead of Yohann Ndoye-Brouard‘s effort of 1:57.70.

Siskos’ time here outperformed the 1:56.63 put on the books at last month’s Acropolis Open in his home country. It also represents a new lifetime best, surpassing his previous PB of 1:55.42 turned in for silver at last year’s European Championships. That established a new Greek national record until Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou hit 1:54.82 at the Paris Games.

Siskos’ time drop to 1:55.18 now rockets him up the world rankings to wear the crown, ahead of the likes of world record holder Thomas Ceccon of Italy and Swiss Olympic medalist Roman Mityukov.

The men’s 50m free and women’s 100m free highlighted the sprint events on day two.

Olympic silver medalist Ben Proud scored the sole time of the splash n’ dash field under the 22-second barrier.

The 30-year-old followed up his 50m fly victory from last night with a powerful 21.90 to add another gold to his trove.

Frenchman Maxime Grousset was just .11 behind in 22.01 while American Michael Andrew logged 22.25 for silver.

Proud’s time established a new Giant Open record, although the Brit has already been as fast as 21.67 this season. That faster mark was turned in at the Aquatics GB Championships to qualify for the World Championships. However, Proud was already pre-selected for the British squad for Singapore, courtesy of his Olympic medal-garnering performance in Paris.

Yet another Giant Open record was erased with Dutch Olympian Marrit Steenbergen stealing the spotlight in the women’s 100m free.

The 25-year-old ripped a big-time 52.98 to establish her dominance over the field, splitting 25.79/27.19 in the process.

Beryl Gastaldello won the silver medal with a respectable in-season 54.82, and teammate Lison Nowaczyk rounded out the podium with 55.26.

Steenbergen’s 52.98 head-turner represents the ninth-fastest time of her career, one that boasts a PB of 52.26 from when she became world champion last year in Doha.

She now ranks 3rd in the world on the season.

Additional Notes

• Gastaldello made it happen in the women’s 50m back, posting 28.03 for the victory. That held off Dutch swimmer Maaike de Waard, who settled for silver in 28.15 followed by Jeanne Lechevalier, who touched in 28.39.
• In her 3rd event of the evening, 30-year-old Gastaldello took on the women’s 50m fly where she finished 4th overall in 26.91. Topping the podium was Maty Ndoye-Brouard who clocked 26.58 for a narrow victory over de Waard. De Waard registered 26.62 for silver and Alix Predine earned bronze in 26.78. Ndoye-Brouard’s performance was only .07 outside her lifetime best of 26.51 from last year.
  • On her performance, Ndoye-Brouard told the French Swimming Federation, “I was a little tense this evening. I didn’t get off to a good start as I did in the semi-finals and it was noticeable right out of the glide. I came out with less speed and it cost me two tenths. I’m happy to win even if there’s a disappointment in terms of the time. I’m happy to know that my work is paying off and I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow in the 100m butterfly.”
• Marc-Antoine Olivier was the fastest men’s 400m freestyler, logging a time of 7:55.07 as the sole swimmer to hit a time under 8:00. That situates him just outside the list of top 20 performers in the world this season.
  • He told FFN post-race, “It was tough but better than the 800m I’ve done since the start of the season. I’m happy, especially since I’ve just come down from altitude. The times weren’t exceptional, but for the time of year, I’ll take it. In France, there’s a lot of competition in this event, and that allows us to improve.”
• The women’s 200m fly saw Lilou Ressencourt produced a new Giant Open record en route to gold. The 21-year-old Cal Bear posted 2:10.18 to clear the field by over 3 seconds. Soizic Gelfmann was next to the wall in 2:13.75 followed by Lea Musser who hit 2:18.36. As for Olympian Ressencourt, her effort here checked in as the 3rd-quickest time of her career. Her PB remains at 2:09.30 from last year.
  • Ressencourt told the French Swimming Federation after her gold, “I didn’t expect to achieve that time. It’s not easy to find support in the long course after spending a season in yards. It’s nice. It’s great to see that swimming is bringing people back. It’s energizing and encourages you to swim faster.”