Manaudou Drops a 21.68 in 50 Free; Bousquet and Gilot Make Waves in Melun

Three of France’s top sprinters skipped the Canet-en-Roussillon stop of Mare Nostrum to compete in the 5th Annual Meeting de la Ville de Melun over the weekend. Florent Manaudou, Frédérick Bousquet, and Fabien Gilot, all with Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille, turned out at the Laure Manaudou Pool in Melun for the regional meet.

The public of the Parisian-area city of Melun were treated to a semi-private audience with the Marseille stars, both in and out of the pool. In the water, the trio finished 1-2-3 in the 50 free, 1-2 in the 50 fly, and 1st in the 100 free. And despite the absence of the usual competitive field, they put up some impressive mid-season times.

Manaudou, in particular, was spectacular in the pool named for his sister. He won the 50 free in 21.68, swimming a sub-22 for the seventh time this year. It was his second-fastest swim of the year, better than any of the four stops of the FFN Golden Tour.

Bousquet placed second in the 50 free with 22.77, having tied with Manaudou in prelims at 22.96. The 34-year-old was absent from the swimming scene for 15 months due to a shoulder injury, only coming back in mid-January. He went 22.68 during the Amiens stage of the Golden Tour, and then was forced to withdraw from the 50 free at Elite Nationals when he got food poisoning.

Gilot was third in 23.65, although he was 23.62 in prelims. At Elite Nationals in Limoges, Gilot took third with 22.13, which is the 15th-fastest time in the world so far this year.

In the 50 fly, Manaudou topped the podium yet again. Going 23.81 in prelims, he finished with a world top-ten 23.40, his second-fastest of the season.

Bousquet picked up another silver medal, finishing in 24.56. As in the 50 free, Bousquet has shown great consistency in his post-surgery comeback. His top time is only a couple hundredths outside of the TYR Rankings for the world’s top 25.

Gilot skipped the 50 fly (in which he swam a 23.47 in prelims at Elite Nationals in Limoges) in favor of the 100 free. Gilot won a fairly uncontested race 50.71. The Marseillais owns the 13th-fastest time in the world so far this year (48.53). Note that Bousquet went 50.24 in prelims at Limoges.

Fabrice Turpin, who swims for CN Melun Val de Seine, took fourth in the 50 free in a personal-best 23.94, the only other sub-24 in the field. Turpin was also fourth in the 50 fly, where he dropped a half-second to finish with 25.20. Flavien Aubry of Créteil was third in both the 50 fly (24.88) and 100 free (52.78). Nazim Belkhoudja of Courbevoie was runner-up to Gilot in the 100 free with 51.38.