2026 French Elite Championships: Day 4 Prelims Recap; Moluh On Track For A Backstroke Double

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
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Day four of the 2026 French Elite Championships saw 16-year-old Sauveur Cristofini make his mark in the heats of the 200 free, leading the way with his third-fastest swim ever in the 200 free.

The French junior champion clocked 1:47.61 as the only man under 1:48 this morning, behind only his 1:46.44 French 17-year-olds record from last month and the 1:47.56 he posted in May. He was out faster than in both of those swims today however, flipping in 51.69 before shutting it down slightly on the second half of the race with a 55.92 second 100. His PB splits are 51.73/54.71.

Cristofini has already set one age group record at this meet, breaking 49 seconds in the 100 free for the first time in 48.99. That garnered him the bronze medal, although the French team did fail to hit the 3:15.00 required to qualify the 4×100 free relay for the European Championships in Paris this summer.

Neo Dutriaux, just two years older than Cristofini, sliced 0.38 seconds off his PB with a 1:48.02 for second this morning. He dropped from 1:50.46 to 1:48.40 last season, and has the chance to dip into the 1:47s for the first time tonight.

Roman Fuchs, who won the event in 1:46.11 last year, was 1:48.35 for third, with South Carolina swimmer and NCAA qualifier Pierre Largeron fourth in 1:48.79, just off his 1:48.00 PB. Mewen Tomac, who doubled up this morning with the 50 back, was fifth in 1:49.00.

Notable also were a pair of high-profile absences. Rafael Fente-Damers, who clocked 1:47.07 last year and split 1:46.43 on the 4×200 free relay at Worlds, pulled out of the event having failed to make the 100 free ‘A’ final yesterday. Leon Marchand was the other scratch, and has now pulled out of the meet entirely after straining an abductor during the 200 breast heats yesterday.

The Men’s 50 back saw Kentucky freshman Lysander Osman near his PB of 24.75 with a time of 24.89 for top spot, the only swimmer under 25 seconds this morning. He matched the European Championships qualifying time exactly, so has put his name up for consideration even if he adds time in the final as long as fewer than four other swimmers hit the qualifying time tonight.

Jules Andre shaved 0.14 seconds off his PB to clock 25.02 for second, ahead of the pair of Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (25.13) and Mewen Tomac (25.19). Ndoye-Brouard won the event in 24.62 last year but did not swim it at the World Championships, while Tomac placed third last year. Both men have already qualified for the European Championships in the 200 back already.

Clement Secchi moved away from his traditional fly events to place 5th in 25.25, a new best by 0.16 seconds, while Michel Arkhangelskiy set a personal best and Bahraini record of 25.33 for sixth. Last night’s 200 breast champ Lucien Vergnes was seventh in 25.44, a 0.05 second PB.

Melina Giraudeau led the women’s 200 breast in 2:30.38, as no women cracked the 2:30 barrier. Lucie Vasquez, the 100 breast bronze medalist, was half a second behind in 2:30.86, with the top Frenchwoman so far this season, Zia Dupont, coming in four seconds off her season best in 2:32.38. With a 2:25.91 required to qualify for the European Championships, this looks an unlikely event to have a French competitor this summer.

The women’s 100 back was a more lively affair, with the newly-minted French record holder in the 50 back, Mary-Ambre Moluh, swimming the fastest time of the morning in 59.66. That was the only time under 1:00, and is just 0.65 seconds off the PB of 59.01 she set three weeks ago at the Porto International meet that ranks her #2 in French history. Beryl Gastaldello, who placed third behind Moluh and Analia Pigree in a 50 backstroke race which saw the top three performers in French history lock horns, was second this morning in the 100 in 1:00.25. She owns a PB of 59.17 from 2024.

Pigree was 7th in 1:02.40, with 200 back qualifier Bertille Cousson clocking 1:01.27 to place third. Pauline Mahieu was fourth in 1:01.32, so we will see the #2 (Moluh, 59.01), #3 (Mahieu, 59.13), #4 (Gastaldello, 59.17), and #6 (Pigree, 59.79) swimmers in French history battle it out tonight, with the 1:00.27 European Championships qualifying time being the goal.

Carl Aitkaci led the men’s 50 breast in 27.19, setting himself up to do the 50/100 double after winning the latter in 59.81 on Saturday. He edged out Namibia’s Ronan Wantenaar, who will be targeting the Commonwealth Games this summer, as he hit 27.22 for second. Lucien Vergnes made his second final of the day with a 27.77 for eighth, with national record holder Antoine Viquerat 4th in 27.59, off the 26.93 he posted last summer.

Jamila Boulakbech led the early heats of the women’s 1500 free by more than 30 seconds, touching in 16:51.02 to miss her PB by less than three seconds. Ines Delacroix is the top seed for the fastest heat tonight in 16:29.24, 15 seconds off the 16:14.00 qualifying time for the European Championships