2026 French Elite Championships: Lots of Close Races in Day 6 Prelims

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
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• SwimSwam Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

The final prelims session of the 2026 French Elite Championships wrapped up this morning and the session was highlighted by a number of close races as athletes vie for the final spots on the European Championships roster.

The morning kicked off with the men’s 400 freestyle prelims where Sacha Velly, who was added to the Euros roster just yesterday, stopped the clock in 3:52.72, finishing about half-a-second ahead of 2nd place David Aubry.

Velly’s lifetime best is 3:49.58 from June of 2023, while Aubry swam 3:46.40 in February of 2024. Only Aubry has been under the QT of 3:47.69, but he is not on the team yet, and will need to get close to his best if he wants to qualify tonight.

In the women’s 400 freestyle, Tunisia’s Jamila Boulakbech swam the fastest prelims time of 4:16.75, finishing about seven tenths ahead of Lou-Ann Gaudaire‘s 4:17.42 in 2nd and Alexa Reyna‘s 4:17.65 in 3rd.

Gaudaire and Reyna will both be chasing the QT of 4:10.23 in tonight’s event final. Gaudaire’s swim was already a lifetime best, taking about a second off the 4:18.56 she swam in June of 2024, and Reyna added about two seconds from her best of 4:15.01, which she swam in July of 2022.

Nans Mazellier won the 50 freestyle prelims, swimming 22.18 to finish just under a tenth ahead of Nikita Baez, who stopped the clock in 22.27 for 2nd, and two tenths ahead of Matteo Robba who swam 22.39 for 3rd.

They will need to get close to the 22 second barrier if they want to earn a spot on the Euros roster, with the qualifying time sitting at 22.05.

The women’s 50 breaststroke saw Chloe Braun come in just a tenth ahead of Nika Godun, stopping the clock in 31.45 and 31.54 respectively. They both have about a second to drop tonight if they want to come in under the QT of 30.75.

The last event of the morning was the men’s 200 IM. Jacques Saletes earned the top seed for the final, swimming 2:02.50 to be the only athlete under 2:03 in prelims.

Algeria’s Jaouad Syoud finished 2nd in 2:03.12, eight tenths ahead of Raphael Blamart‘s 2:03.93 in 3rd.

Saletes and Blamart will need to dip under 2:00 with the QT sitting at 1:59.05 if they want to qualify for the team.