2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Swimming: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- SwimSwam previews
- Day 1 Schedule & Results
- Live Stream (NBC)
Swimming in heat 2 of the women’s 4 x 100m freestyle relay, Béryl Gastaldello, Charlotte Bonnet, Mathilde Cini, and Anna Santamans combined to break the French national record by .83. The quartet clocked a record 3:36.85 and qualified eighth for finals. The previous national record, established in Beijing in 2008, had held for 8 years.
The comparative splits between the Rio and Beijing relays are as follows:
| 2016 | 2012 | ||
| Beryl Gastaldello | 54.94 | Céline Couderc | 54.32 |
| Charlotte Bonnet | 53.16 | Alena Popchanka | 54.54 |
| Mathilde Cini | 54.64 | Ophélie-Cyrielle Etienne | 54.79 |
| Anna Santamans | 54.11 | Malia Metella | 54.03 |
| 3:36.85 | 3:37.68 |
The Fab Four en finale olympique @MathildeCini @BonnetCha @beryl_gasta #AnnaSantamans pic.twitter.com/nEpo09Eqm2
— Team Mars (@TMarseille2016) August 6, 2016
Bonnet and Gastaldello are France’s two entrants in the individual 100 meter freestyle event. Bonnet is seeded with 53.80, which she swam in Monaco at the beginning of June. Gastaldello comes in with a personal best of 53.98, which she did at France’s long course nationals in the spring of 2015. Santamans’ personal best from a flat start is 54.93, and dates from the 2016 Golden Tour in February, while Cini was 54.44 at France’s Olympic Trials at the end of March, where she finished third behind Bonnet and Gastaldello.
