French sprinter Mélanie Henique lowered her own national record in the 50 fly on Friday in the finals of the French national short course championships in Angers. Henique, who now trains in Marseille, obliterated the field with a winning 25.20, .13 faster than the previous record which she set last November at the short course national meet in Montpellier.
Henique’s underwaters were particularly impressive; she was able to pull away from the competition from the outset and increased her lead to a body length after the turn. Henique spoke to the press following her race:
“I am really happy because 25.2 is starting to look interesting, even though it’s just short course. I’m happy because I haven’t really done anything to prepare for this meet, even less so in butterfly. I’m happy with the work we’ve done up to now; I think we’re on the right road. We’ll see on Sunday what the 50 free brings. We really haven’t done anything special to prepare for short course nationals. Yesterday I had some trouble getting started, but I’m happy to have this level of performance today. It bodes well for the future.”
American Lara Jackson, swimming under the banner of Vichy, came in second at 26.00, while Armony Dumur, who broke the NCAA Division II record in the 100 yard fly swimming for Wingate University last season, placed third with 26.41.
