Meeting des Hortillons
- January 21-23, 2022
- Amiens, France
- Long Course Meters (50 meters)
- Meet Results
In the first big meet on French soil of 2022 happened last weekend in Amiens, France at the 13th annual Meeting des Hortillons.
As a tuneup for next week’s Golden Tour Meet in Nice, which is expected to draw most of the country’s top swimmers (as well as internationals), a handful of French Olympians were present in Amiens this weekend to race, as well as some of the country’s top young talents.
The results included a new personal best time for Olympic 4th-place finisher Maxime Grousset, and the country’s first National Record of the year.
Grousset won the 50 free (22.45), 100 free (48.34), and 50 butterfly (23.69) in the meet. His time in the 100, which is the event where he placed 4th in Tokyo, is the second-best time of his career outside of a national or international championship, with the exception being a 48.28 at last year’s Mare Nostrum tour. His best time in that race is 47.52.
It was his other entry, in the 200 free, where he didn’t win, where he swam a best time, though. He touched in 1:49.05 to improve his previous best of 1:49.10 done in December. In fact, he has now swum three best times in this race in the last 6 weeks, which in total has dropped his best from a November, 2020 time of 1:51.34 to his 1:49.05 last weekend.
In that race, the 22-year old Grousset lost to 24-year old Hadrien Salvan, who touched 2nd in 1:48.15. That’s only half-a-second slower than the time that placed him 3rd at the French Championships last June and earned him a spot on the French Olympic Team.
On the women’s side, a new star emerged when 16-year old Mary Moluh swam three best times and won three races in four entries.
She won the 50 free in 25.87, which cleared her previous best time of 25.97; she won the 50 back in 28.20, which missed her previous best time of 27.76; and she won the 100 back in 1:00.04 which crushed her previous best time of 1:00.93.
That time in the 100 backstroke breaks the French Record for 17-and-unders (based on age at the end of the year) and clears her own best time from the 2021 European Junior Championships last July, where she raced at only 15 years old.
At that meet, Moluh took silver in the 100 backstroke in a tie with Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan, and also led off France’s silver-medal winning 400 medley relay.
She now also ranks as the 5th-fastest French woman in the history of the event.
France All-Time Rankings, Women’s 100 Backstroke, LCM:
- Laure Manaudou, Canet 66 Natation, 2008 – 59.50
- Analia Pigree, Canet 66 Natation, 2021 – 59.88
- Mathilde Cini, Valence Triathlon, 2018 – 59.98
- Esther Baron, CN Marseille, 2009 – 1:00.00
- Mary-Ambre Moluh, US Creteil Natation, 2022 – 1:00.04
- Beryl Gastaldello, CN Marseille, 2019 – 1:00.07
- Alexianne Castel, Dauphins Toulouse, 2012 – 1:00.16
- Emma Terebo, Amiens Metropole Natation, 2022 – 1:00.60
Moluh also swam a best time in the 100 fly in 1:03.53, though she scratched the semifinals of that event.
Not far behind her at the finish of the 100 back was 24-year old Emma Terebo, who also swam a best time in 1:00.60. She now ranks 8th all-time in French history.
Terebo, who in March completed her NCAA career at Florida State, missed best times in two of her three races at last year’s French Championships, but seems back on track now – including three wins over the weekend. She swam a best time in the 100 free (56.01 – down from 57.56), the 200 free (2:01.12 – down from 2:10.51), and 200 backstroke (2:12.62 – down from 2:19.54) and won all three events. Her backstroke time, mentioned above, was also a best, by .05 seconds.
Also swimming a pair of best times at the meet was 21-year old Yohann Ndoye Brouard.
He won the 50 backstroke in 24.91, which is a new lifetime best for him and now ranks him as the 5th-best Frenchman ever in that race, which is one where France has been very good over the last 15 years.
All-Time French Rankings, Men’s LCM 50 Backstroke:
- Camille LaCourt, CN Marseille, 2010 – 24.07
- Jeremy Stravius, Amiens Metropole Natation, 2013 – 24.45
- Florent Manaudou, CN Marseille, 2015 – 24.77
- Mewen Tomac, Amiens Metrpoloe Natation, 2020 – 24.80
- Yohann Ndoye Brouard, Dauphins D’Annecy, 2022 – 24.91
- Benjamin Stasiulis, Lagardere Paris Racing, 2009 – 25.03
With August’s European Championships now looking more-and-more like it will be the country’s biggest meet of the year, Brouard is now the fastest swimmer in the world since the Tokyo Olympics in this event.
Brouard also swam a best time for 2nd place in the 50 free in 22.90, and won more gold in the 100 back (53.85) and 200 back (1:58.98).
Brouard had a disastrous Olympics in Tokyo. In his first event, the 100 backstroke, he missed the flags and ran full-force into the wall on the turn, earning a disqualification. His next event saw him finish 9th in semifinals of the 200 back, missing the final by .14 seconds.
He did bounce back to finish the meet with a best time of 52.77 leading off France’s 400 medley relay, but that relay placed 10th and out of the final.
With Brouard and MAM we’ll have 2 backstrokers peaking at the right time for 2024 at home.
Add Brousset and Wattel who will be strong contenders for the gold respectively in the men’s 100 free and the women’s 100 fly.
And who knows? Maybe we’ll finally find a good breaststroker on the men and women’s side so that our medley relays are medal contenders.
I’m much more optimistic about French swimming now than 2 or 3 years ago.
I was surprised to learn that no French woman has ever been faster than 59.50 in the 100 back.
Once upon a time, that Frenchwoman who still holds that NR was the only person other than Natalie Coughlin who had been under 1:00.
Wow..look at that #1 time
France All-Time Rankings, Women’s 100 Backstroke, LCM: