2026 French Elite Championships: Day 1 Prelims Recap; Marchand and Moluh Earn Top Seeds

2026 FRENCH ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, June 27th – Thursday, July 2nd
• Piscine Raymond Sommet, Saint-Etienne, France
• LCM (50m)
• French Selection Criteria for European Championships
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

The 2026 French Elite Championships kicked off this morning, and world-record holder Leon Marchand highlighted the session with his swim in the men’s 400 IM.

In the 3rd event of the morning, Marchand cruised to the top seed in the event, stopping the clock in 4:11.90 to finish about 12 seconds ahead of 2nd place qualifier Emilien Mattenet‘s 4:23.02.

This was Marchand’s fastest prelims performance of the season, and is one of the fastest prelims performances of his career. At last year’s World Championships, he barely squeaked into the final after swimming 4:13.19 in prelims. In finals, he swam 4:04.73 to earn the gold medal.

The 2nd qualifier Emilien Mattenet‘s lifetime best stands at 4:15.02 from last summer’s French Championships, and the 3rd qualifier Evan Galle-Michon, who swam 4:25.32 in prelims, set a new lifetime best, dropping from the 4:25.63 he swam in July of 2024.

The meet opened with the men’s 50 butterfly where Michel Arkhangelsky swam 23.04 to set the top time in prelims by more than half-a-second. This swim was only a tenth off his lifetime best of 22.97, and was a new season best time, moving him up to tie for 16th in the world this season in the event.

Behind Arkhangelsky, the 2nd-5th place qualifiers were within seven hundredths, meaning tonight’s event final could be close in the back half. Nikita Baez took the 2nd spot in 23.61, just three hundredths ahead of Clement Secchi and Alexandre D’Agata, who both swam 23.64 to tie for 3rd overall. Stanislas Huillle took 5th in 23.68 this morning.

The women’s 100 freestyle swam next, and Cal sophomore Mary-Ambre Moluh took the top time in a very close prelims session with her 54.43. Moluh’s season best time stands at 54.35 from the beginning of the month.

She finished just four tenths ahead of Marie Wattel, who stopped the clock in 54.78 for 2nd. Albane Cachot, who just wrapped up her freshman season at Arizona State, swam 54.82 to finish 3rd as the final swimmer under 55 seconds this morning.

The women’s qualifying time of the European Championships is 54.10, which means all three will be trying to make their way under that barrier tonight.

In the women’s 200 backstroke Bertille Cousson earned lane four for the final tonight in 2:12.38, just two tenths ahead of Pauline Mahieu‘s 2:12.58 in 2nd place overall. Lou-Anne Guiton was the only other swimmer under 2:15 this morning, and she swam 2:12.97 to qualify 3rd.

The Euros qualifying time is 2:10.59, which means they all have about two seconds to drop if they want to earn a spot on the team in Paris next month.

Carl Aitkaci swam the top time in the men’s 100 breaststroke, setting a blistering new lifetime best of 59.43 to be the only swimmer under 1:00 and win the prelims by more than a second. His previous best stood at 1:00.22 from this meet last year.

This swim will move him up to 18th in the world this year, and opens up opportunities for the French to move Marchand around on the medley relay, especially if Maxime Grousset is not able to attend the European Championships due to his injury.

The final event of the morning was the early heats of the women’s 800 freestyle. Apolline Gallant was the fastest swimmer this morning, stopping the clock in 9:04.99. Her personal best time is 8:57.51 from July of last summer.

The European Championships qualifying time is 8:29.00, which Gallant missed. Tonight’s top seed is Laura Gourgeon in 8:42.61.