The French Swimming Federation finalized its list of the top national swimming clubs for 2020-21, and Les Dauphins du TOEC (the Dolphins) topped the list, as it has since the 2010-11 season, as far back as results are available.
The rankings are based on points, and the Dolphins scored 40,721 points last season, compared to 2nd-place’s CN Marseille 30,694 points.
The Dolphins are located in Toulouse, the capital of France’s southern Occitanie region, and have been a club since 1908. Some of their swimmers have included Matthias Marsau, European Games bronze medalist in the 200m fly, and French Olympian Assia Touati.
Coming in second is Cercle des naugeurs de Marseille (CN Marseille), which is known mostly for its water polo teams but have also trained French Olympic swimmers Laure and Florent Manaudou, Frederick Bousquet, and Camille Lacourt.
Olympic Nice Natation came in third with 26,059 points. It’s a much newer swim club compared to the No. 1 and 2 teams (founded in 1908 and 1921, respectively), having been established in 1989. Its men’s team won eight national championships in a row between 1997 and 2004, and the women’s team has won four national championships since 2007.
Other top club teams:
- Amiens Metropole Natation: 24,163 points
- CN Antibes: 23,048 points
- Pélican Club Bethunois Stadium: 19,565 points
- Angers Natation: 18,529 points
- ES Massy Natation: 18,320 points
- Lille Métropole Natation: 17,893 points
- Montpelier Metropolis Swimming: 17,449 points
You can see real-time rankings for the 2021-22 season here.
