World Rankings Get Rattled On Final Day Of 2026 Giant Open

2026 GIANT OPEN

• March 20th – March 22nd
• Olympic Aquatic Center, Saint-Denis, France
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview #1
• SwimSwam Preview #2
• Entries
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Results

The 2026 Giant Open in France concluded last night with additional meet records going down at the hands of both domestic swimmers and those visiting from abroad.

The men’s 50m breaststroke saw 22-year-old reigning world champion Simone Cerasuolo get it done for gold, with the Italian registering a time of 27.06.

That held a sight advantage over runner-up Melvin Imoudu of Germany who notched 27.14 followed by British multi-Olympic gold medalist Adam Peaty who clocked 27.30. This was a bounce-back for Peaty who missed medaling in the 100m sprint at this meet.

It took Cerasuolo a mark of 27.56 to claim victory last year in Singapore so he was exactly half a second off that effort en route to topping the podium here.

He was closer to that outing last month when he turned in a season-best 26.78 to rank 4th in the world at the moment.

Pauline Mahieu of France delivered a time of 59.44 to represent one of just two swimmers to delve under the minute barrier in the women’s 100m backstroke final.

Joining her under the threshold was Dutch Olympian Marrit Steenbergen, the woman who claimed gold in both the 50m back and 100m free on night two.

26-year-old Steenbergen hit 59.78 as the silver medalist with speedster Beryl Gastaldello rounding out the podium in 1:00.21.

The women’s 200m IM saw Canada’s versatile Mary-Sophie Harvey beat the pack by over a second, clocking a result of 2:09.82, a new season-best.

Ireland’s national record holder Ellen Walshe secured silver in 2:10.97, an outing less than half a second off the Irish standard of 2:10.49 put on the books at the 2025 World Championships.

Host nation athlete Cyrielle Duhamel also landed on the podium, producing 2:12.53, good enough for bronze.

Harvey now ranks 7th in the world on the season.

Finally, the women’s 100m fly saw 2024 world champion Angelina Köhler of Germany get to the wall first, posting a time of 56.92 as the sole competitor under the 57-second barrier.

Greek swimmer Anna Ntountouanki was well over half a second behind in 57.78 for silver and Marie Wattel of France notched 58.65 for a 3rd-place finish.

A German national record of 56.11 is what Köhler established in the semi-finals of the women’s 1fly in Doha before she ultimately claimed the gold in a slightly slower mark of 56.28.

Later that year at the Paris Olympic Games, 25-year-old Köhler finished 4th in a time of 56.42.

Köhler takes over slot #5 among the season’s world rankings.

Additional Notes

• France’s Sacha Velly got it done for gold in the men’s 1500m free, leading a 1-2 punch from the host nation. Velly nabbed gold in 14:53.62, a monster new lifetime best and first-time ever under the 15:00 barrier. Entering this competition, the Frenchman’s career-swiftest performance rested at the 15:01.86 notched in December 2021. Teammate Emile Vincent touched next in 15:11.18 and Greek ace Dimitrios Markos, the 800m free winner here, delivered 15:17.71 for bronze. Velly now ranks 5th in the world currently.
• The women’s 1500m free saw Greece’s Artemis Vasilaki produce a result of 16:23.63 to hold a healthy advantage over the rest of teh pack. A pair of French swimmers earned the minor medals, with Ines Delacroix hitting 16:29.24 for silver and Laura Gourgeon touching in 16:35.12 for bronze.