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
The 2026 French Elite Championships are nearly upon us, with action kicking off Saturday, June 27th from Saint-Etienne.
Megastar Leon Marchand headlines the list of 590 entrants, with the 24-year-old Olympic champion entered in a characteristically packed schedule, this time including the 200m free, 400m free, 200m breast, 200m fly, 200m IM and 400m IM.
With the competition spanning six days, Marchand’s lineup includes one event per, save the final day of the meet which will see him double up on the 400m free and 200m IM if his schedule holds.
Leon Marchand‘s Schedule
- Day 1 – 400m IM
- Day 2 – No individual event
- Day 3 – 200m breast
- Day 4 – 200m free
- Day 5 – 200m fly
- Day 6 – 400m free & 200m IM
Marchand has already put some impressive times on the books this season, ranking 1st in the world in the 200m fly (1:52.57), 5th in the 400m IM (4:09.33), 10th in the 400m free (3:44.70), 10th in the 200m IM (1:57.28) and 12th in the 200m breast (2:09.04) from the U.S. Open and Fort Lauderdale Open.
Per the French Selection Criteria for the European Championships, swimmers must clear the following time standards for individual events:
French Qualification Standards for 2026 European Championships
| Women | Event | Men |
| 24.80 | 50 free | 22.05 |
| 54.10 | 100 free | 48.54 |
| 1:58.33 | 200 free | 1:46.88 |
| 4:10.23 | 400 free | 3:47.69 |
| 8:29.00 | 800 free | 7:50.50 |
| 16:14.00 | 1500 free | 15:01.89 |
| 27.90 | 50 back | 24.89 |
| 1:00.27 | 100 back | 53.95 |
| 2:10.89 | 200 back | 1:58.45 |
| 30.75 | 50 breast | 27.30 |
| 1:06.89 | 100 breast | 59.75 |
| 2:25.91 | 200 breast | 2:10.32 |
| 26.14 | 50 fly | 23.24 |
| 58.30 | 100 fly | 51.81 |
| 2:10.59 | 200 fly | 1:56.51 |
| 2:12.28 | 200 IM | 1:59.05 |
| 4:41.57 | 400 IM | 4:15.05 |
Although most of the host nation’s top tier of athletes are entered in this affair, we reported how 27-year-old Olympic medalist and world champion Maxime Grousset will be on the sidelines. Grousset withdrew from these championships due to a foot fracture.
Additional notable names missing from the list of participants are Anastasia Kirpichnikova and Florent Manaudou.
As a refresher, France did not send a national roster to the 2024 European Championships in Belgrade, as that year’s Olympic Trials overlapped with the international competition.
I’m also interested in the results for Albane Cachot. She spent one semester at Arizona St as a freshman, and made the NCAAs in a couple freestyle events.
I think McIntosh’s Canadian trials line up is also out. 4 events. No 200free or 800free
Another swimmer to watch is the young (16-year-old) Sauveur Cristofini. He just swam the 200m in 1:46.44.
In doing so, he broke the record set by Yannick Agnel when he was 17.
Sauveur Cristofini will also be a serious contender for Léon Marchand in the 400m freestyle.
Some of the key entrants are pretty unknown
its gonna be a marchand show all the way – and a bunch of side characters that are atleast better than enhanced athletes.
Has Leon been training in France or only Texas?
As far as I know, he hasn’t spent any significant training blocks in France recently.
He has been training in Paris (INSEP) since returning from Austin. He will then go to Marseille to prepare for the European Championships.
Curious people’s thoughts on what he’ll actually swim. I’d be extatic if he swims the 200/400 free, but also wouldn’t be surprised if he axes them due to how competitive they are on the world stage
I hope he swims the 200 Free because I remain convinced that he can do that one faster than his recorded PB.
Don’t know if he’ll try the 400 Free/200 IM double, but I’ve seen him do crazier things.
I think he will axe the 4 free in favor of the 2IM but swim everything else. The 2 free will be a great barometer for relays but I doubt he will be competitive for medals.
He’ll probably swim the 400 free at Euros. He wants to swim the event in LA. I hope a 3:42 at Euros. About the 200 free, I think he swims it in order to be part of the relay 4×200.
I’d be curious why he’d choose 400free over 200free? Just to not cannabalizw hobson’s chances?
Would Marchand really swim the 400m freestyle in LA? With Märtens, Short, etc., it would be a tough challenge
well he needs some other motivation. 4 and 2 im are asically secrured for him. 400 free is a challenge and that is exactly what he needs to stay motivated. otherwise he will end up like milak who was too god for his competition
I cannot see him medalling in that event, but he’s surprised me in the past. It would take a LOT of focused training from him, which seems dubious considering he seems to want to keep 200 Fly and 200 Breast.
It would be pretty fun though to see him make an Olympic final in a Freestyle race. He should also try the 200 Back at a Worlds meet just because it’d be so fun to see him make an Olympic/Worlds final in all stroke disciplines.