Mary-Ambre Moluh Breaks 2nd French Record in as Many Days with 58.25 100 Backstroke

2026 FRENCH ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Saturday, June 27th – Thursday, July 2nd
• Piscine Raymond Sommet, Saint-Etienne, France
• LCM (50m)
• French Selection Criteria for European Championships
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Meet Preview
• SwimSwam Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Women’s 100 Backstroke — Final

• World Record: 57.13 — Regan Smith, USA (2024)
• World Junior Record: 57.57 — Regan Smith, USA (2019)
• French Record: 58.79 — Emma Terebo (2024)
• French European Championships Qualifying Time: 1:00.27

Top 3 Finishers

• Gold: Mary-Ambre Moluh — 58.25 **New French Record
• Silver: Pauline Mahieu — 59.57 **QT
• Bronze: Beryl Gastaldello — 59.76 **QT

Riding the hot hand from last night’s 50 backstroke French Record of 27.20, Mary-Ambre Moluh has done it again, this time, in double the distance, and in dominant fashion; downing the 100 back national mark in 58.25, over half a second faster than the former mark held by Emma Terebo in 58.79.

Coming into the event’s final, she was the lone swimmer in the prelims to dip under that 1:00 barrier in 59.66, just ahead of Beryl Gastaldello in 1:00.25, though the final told a different story; three women would dip under that barrier, though only Moluh would manage to be under 59 seconds.

That time also marks a big drop for the rising Cal junior, whose previous best was earlier this month in Portugal at 59.01, putting her just behind Terebo in the All-Time rankings among French swimmers.

Fastest French 100 Backstroke Performers All-Time (LCM)

1. Mary-Ambre Moluh – 58.25 (2026)
2. Emma Terebo – 58.79 (2024)
3. Pauline Mathieu – 59.13 (2025)
4. Beryl Gastaldello – 59.17 (2024)
5. Laure Manaudou – 59.50 (2008)

Moluh is the latest beneficiary of the Cal backstroke progression, which has seen several Olympic and World Champions come through its waters over the last several years. Just this past season for Cal, Moluh finished 4th at the NCAA Championships (SCY) in the 100 back (49.95) after touching 3rd a few weeks earlier at the ACC Championships (SCY) in 49.64.

This time now moves her up to 5th in the world this season in the 100 back, which has been a heavily contested event across the planet for the entirety of the calendar year thus far.

Moluh now moves with .17 seconds of the European Record set by Great Britain’s Kathleen Dawson in 2021. While North Americans Katharine Berkoff, Kylie Masse, Kathleen Baker, Regan Smith, and Isabelle Stadden, plus Australians Mollie O’Callaghan and Kaylee McKeown, have made 57s seem commonplace, no European woman has been better than 58.08.