Angharad Evans Carries Momentum Into 2026 Giant Open

2026 GIANT OPEN

• March 20th – March 22nd
• Olympic Aquatic Center, Saint-Denis, France
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview #1
• SwimSwam Preview #2
• Entries
• Live Results

The 2026 Giant Open kicked off today from the Olympic Aquatic Center in Saint-Denis, France, spanning through Sunday, March 22nd. Over 200 French and international swimmers are expected to race at the three-day affair.

Right off the bat, Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou got it done for gold in the men’s 50m back, posting a winning result of 24.89

Christou’s outing represented the sole outing of the field to delve under the 25-second barrier, as Ireland’s dynamo John Shortt hit 25.01 as the silver medalist and Hungarian Adam Jaszo reaped bronze in 25.09.

Christou owns the Greek national record at the personal best of 24.36 he notched in 2022. His outing here renders the Greek swimmer the 10th-fastest performer this season.

Also on the men’s side, World Championships multi-gold medalist Maxime Grousset claimed victory in the 50m fly, punching a result of 22.84.

That registered the sole outing of the field under the 23-second barrier, with Greek swimmer Stergios-Marios Bilas next in line at 23.15 and Dutch Olympian Nyls Korstanje claiming bronze in 23.36.

Grousset is the reigning French national record holder, owning a lifetime best of 22.48 from last year’s Singapore World Championships. He’s already been as quick as 22.78 this season, a time he put up at last weekend’s Lausanne Swim Cup to rank #1 in the world this season.

The Dutch went 1-2 in the women’s 50m free, led by versatile world champion Marrit Steenbergen.

26-year-old Steenbergen stopped the clock at 24.56 to turn in the 3rd-best time of the Olympian’s career.

Steenbergen’s PB remains at the 24.42 put up in Eindhoven in 2023.

Teammate Milou Van Wijk settled for silver just .08 behind in 24.64 as host nation Olympian Beryl Gastaldello put up 24.74 en route to the bronze.

Finally, on the women’s side, University of Stirling Olympian Angharad Evans ripped a result of 1:05.46 to win the women’s 100m breaststroke by two full seconds.

Ireland’s Ellie McCartney was next to the wall in 1:07.46 as Nika Godun rounded out the podium in 1:07.65.

Evans’ outing checked in only .09 outside the British national record of 1:05.37 she crushed at the 2025 Aquatics GB Championships.

Already this season, Evans came within striking distance of that mark, ripping an identical mark of 1:05.46 at the Edinburgh International Meet just last week to rank #2 in the world this season.

Additional Notes

• Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey logged a time of 4:34.37 to take the women’s 400m IM. The next-closest swimmer was Ireland’s Ellen Walshe who claimed silver in 4:39.71 followed by domestic swimmer Cyrielle Duhamel‘s outing of 4:43.92. Harvey’s outing overtook her previous personal best, a time of 4:35.56 posted last year. She remains the 4th-best Canadian women’s 4IM performer in history.
• The women’s 200m back saw British ace Katie Shanahan reap gold in 2:09.64, the sole outing of the field under the 2:10 barrier.