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
This morning, the penultimate prelims session of the 2026 French Elite Championships went off and athletes are trying to lock up the spots for the European Championships in Paris this summer.
The biggest hurdle for swimmers today will be the Paris qualifying standards. While it was only the prelims, there were no athletes that came in under the required times to earn a spot.
On the women’s side, Beryl Gastaldello, who is already qualified for this summer’s team, was the closest to swimming under the required time in prelims, swimming 24.91 in the women’s 50 freestyle to earn the top seed. This was just a tenth off the qualifying time of 24.80.
Mary-Ambre Moluh, who is fresh off two French records in the women’s 50 and 100 backstroke, earned the 2nd qualifying spot in 25.07, three tenths ahead of Albane Cachot, who swam 25.33 to qualify 3rd for tonight.
The men’s 100 backstroke was close in prelims with Jules Andre earning the top spot out of prelims with his 54.11. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard finished 2nd in prelims just two hundredths back, stopping the clock in 54.13. Clement Secchi took 3rd in prelims at 54.47.
Ndoye-Brouard is the only one of the three already on the team with his performance in the 200 backstroke. The qualifying time for the European Championships tonight is 53.95.
Lilou Ressencourt swam the top time in the women’s 200 fly prelims of 2:11.64, a little more than a second off the 2:10.59 QT. Ressencourt’s lifetime best in the event of 2:08.81 is well under the necessary time.
Tabatha Avetand took 2nd in 2:13.41 and Adelaide Meuter qualified 3rd in 2:14.56.
Sandro Henras-Marouf finished 1st in the men’s 200 fly prelims, touching in 2:00.84, four seconds off the qualifying time of 1:56.51. His lifetime best stands at 1:57.65 from March of 2026, so he will be looking for a full second drop in tonight’s race.
Fares Benzidoun took 2nd in prelims, touching in 2:00.88, just four hundredths behind Henras-Marouf, and Martin Beauger finished 3rd in 2:01.16.
Finally, the women’s 200 IM saw Cyrielle Duhamel swim 2:16.05 to earn the top qualifying spot by about two seconds. This was a six second add from her best of 2:10.84, which she set at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. At last year’s French Elite Championships, she swam 2:11.06, which would put her under the qualifying time of 2:12.28.
Zoe Carlos-Broc qualified 2nd about two seconds back in 2:18.43, and Louann Soulard qualified 3rd in 2:19.43.
