Manaudou, Sjostrom Highlight Day 2 of Golden Tour in Amiens

FFN Golden Tour Camille Muffat – Amiens

• Dates: Friday, February 5 – Sunday, February 7, 2016
• Prelims 9 am GMT+1 (3 am EST/12 am PST); finals 5 pm on Friday and Saturday (11 am EST/8 am PST), 3:30 pm on Sunday (9:30 am EST/6:30 am PST)
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Records continued to fall on Day Two of the FFN’s Golden Tour Camille Muffat in Amiens. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom was the author of two of them, winning the 100 free and 100 fly easily and posting world top-5 times in each. Sjostrom won the first race of the evening with a dominant 53.53 in the women’s 100 free, besting Nice teammates Charlotte Bonnet (54.37) and Anna Santamans (54.93). The Swede followed that performance up with a blowout in the last event of the final session: she won the 100 fly by four body lengths in 56.37, the only sub-1:00 in the field.

French mid-distance star Coralie Balmy broke a Golden Tour record with her 4:04.58 finish in the 400 free. Balmy crushed the competition, finishing 7 seconds ahead of Italy’s Martina De Memme (4:11.66). It was a huge swim at this stage of the season for Balmy, and a full 1.1 seconds under the very strict French qualifying standards for Rio (although she will need to reproduce this swim in finals at French Trials at the end of March).

Florent Manaudou lowered the Golden Tour record in the 50 free with his best-of-season 21.57, ranking him third in the world, just 1/100 behind Nathan Adrian. It was an all-French podium in Amiens, as Jérémy Stravius (22.37) and Frédérick Bousquet (22.49) took second and third. It will take a 21.82 to make the French team for Rio in this event, and there are numerous contenders. Mehdy Metella (22.94), Nosy Pelagie (23.32) and William Meynard (23.52) were also in the A final.

The 200 breast was another blowout. Germany’s Marco Koch swam in clear waters to win the event with a Golden Tour record of 2:07.74. That is his second sub-2:08 in as many weeks after posting a 2:07.69 in Luxembourg last weekend. Sweden’s Erik Persson (2:11.98) and Great Britain’s Ross Murdoch (2:13.98) rounded out the podium.

Katinka Hosszu of Hungary won three events: 100 breast (1:09.73), 200 IM (2:09.11), and 200 back (2:08.47). While she swam nearly all alone in the IM (GBR’s Aimée Willmott was four seconds back in second place with 2:13.06), she had her work cut out for her in the breast and back. In the former, France’s Adeline Martin (1:10.36) edged Adeline Williams (1:10.86) for second. In the latter. Russia’s Anastasiia Fesikova out-touched Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina, 2:09.67 to 2:09.75 for runner-up.

France’s Camille Lacourt won the men’s 100 back with 54.34, a time that is under the FINA A standard for Rio but misses the French standard by 1.1 seconds. Lacourt has been outspoken about the very tight standards for selection to Rio. Great Britain’s Charlie Boldison was second in 55.85, ahead of France’s Thomas Avetand (56.29).

The 200 free was a tight battle, with GBR’s Robbie Renwick getting the touch in 1:47.94. Behind him were Jordan Pothain (FRA) and Duncan Scott (GBR) in 1:48.12 and 1:48.85, respectively. Sweden’s Simon Sjodin eked out a win in the 200 fly with 1:57.14; France’s Jordan Coelho was runner-up in 1:57.52.