2024 FRENCH ELITE SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, October 31st – Sunday, November 3rd
- Montpellier, France
- SCM (25m)
- Meet Central
- Day 1 Recap
- Live Results
Day 2 of the 2024 French Elite Short Course Championships unfolded from Montpellier tonight with swimmers vying for a chance at competing at the 2024 Short Course World Championships in Budapest.
Staking his claim on 2 events was 25-year-old Olympian Maxime Grousset who tried both the men’s 50m breast and 100m free on for size.
In the former, Grousset logged a time of 26.42 to reap gold, leading a trio of swimmers who dipped under the 27-second threshold.
Antoine Viquerat settled for silver behind Grousset in 26.70 while Carl Aitkaci rounded out the podium in 26.73.
Grousset’s outing represents a lifetime best and he now checks in as France’s 5th-fastest performer to date.
Of note, Florent Manaudou was entered in the men’s 50m breast as his sole individual event, but the 33-year-old multi-Olympic medalist wound up as a no-show in this morning’s heats.
In the 100m free, Grousset beat the field with a time of 46.13, a mark over one second ahead of the field.
The next-closest competitor was represented by Roman Fuchs who turned in a time of 47.54 while Alexander Chalendar rounded out the podium in 47.83.
Grousset’s personal best remains at the 45.41 put up at the 2022 Short Course World Championships. There in Melbourne, Grousset earned silver behind winner Kyle Chalmers of Australia (45.16).
On the women’s side, 25-year-old Pauline Mahieu scorched a winning time of 2:02.85 to clinch the women’s 200m back victory by over 4 seconds.
Mahieu’s effort represents a new personal best, overtaking the 2:02.96 posted during the 2022 Short Course World Championships.
Tonight’s swim maintains Mahieu as the 3rd-quickest French performer of all time in this event.
Additional Notes
- Valentine Leclercq hit a time of 4:07.69 to lead the women’s 400m free, eking out the victory over runner-up Cyrielle Duhamel who clocked 4:07.56 for silver.
- The men’s 50m back saw Mewen Tomac get it done for gold, leading a trio of sub-24-second performers. Tomac hit 23.29 for gold, while Lysander Osman turned in 23.84 for silver and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard logged 23.87 for bronze.
- Mewen Tomac reached the wall first in the men’s 200m IM, logging 1:54.07 to beat the field by over 3 seconds.
- Last night’s women’s 100m free victor Beryl Gastaldello doubled up with a decisive victory in the 100m IM. Gastaldello touched in 57.93, handily defeating runner-up Florine Gaspard who scored 59.52 as the only other athlete under the 1:00 barrier.
