Worlds 2023, Euro Recap Day 7: Grousset’s Win Gives France A New Card To Play In Paris

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• WORLD CHAMPS WATCH PARTY – DAILY
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Live Results (Omega)
• European Recap Day 1: Germany Carries Open Water Success Into Pool
• European Recap Day 2: Diogo Ribeiro Wins Portugal’s First Ever Worlds Medal
• European Recap Day 3: Matt Richards Has Arrived
• European Recap Day 4: Chimielewski Among Euro Juniors Finding Success on Worlds Stage
• European Recap Day 5: Scott, Dean Earn GB Men’s First 200 IM Worlds Medals in 50 Years
• European Recap Day 6: Steenbergen and Schouten Put Dutch Women Back On The Map

Léon Marchand is set to be the face of the French team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which are now less than a year away. He’s built into that role over the course of the last year, and has fully ascended here in Fukuoka, winning three golds and breaking Michael Phelps‘ legendary 400 IM world record.

But besides Marchand, it didn’t seem like the French–especially the French men–were in a position to give the Olympic home crowd much to cheer about. There’s the backstroker duo of Mewen Tomac and Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, who have both been knocking on the door for a while but have yet to have a major breakthrough swim at the Worlds/Olympic level. That’s changed now, as Maxime Grousset has burst onto the 100 butterfly international scene and won his first individual world title.

A year ago, picking Grousset to win at Worlds would’ve gotten you some strange looks. Not only was there the specter of Caeleb Dressel, but there was also Kristof Milak, who earned 2020 Olympic silver and 2022 Worlds gold last year. But Dressel didn’t make the U.S. team and Milak withdrew from Worlds, which gave the opportunity to new swimmers to step up.

Even so, you would’ve been hard pressed to find someone to bet on Grousset. That’s not a knock against the 24-year-old, it’s just that until February 2023, his personal best in the event was a 56.11. Before this year, Grousset focused on sprint freestyle and hadn’t explored his potential in butterfly.

He seemed to shift his focus this year, though. Since March, he’s been slowly lowering his best time, from 56.11 to 52.00 in February 2023. He raced the event consistently through the early season, then at the French Championships, he broke the French record in 50.61.

Grousset underscored that he was all in on this event early at Worlds, when he scratched the 50 free, which conflicts with the 100 fly all the way through the rounds. The move clearly paid off for Grousset. He won gold and he shattered his lifetime best, hitting 50.14 to become the #5 all-time performer.

 Top Five Performers, Men’s 100 Butterfly (LCM)

1. Caeleb Dressel, United States — 49.45 (2021)
2. Kristof Milak, Hungary — 49.68 (2021)
3. Michael Phelps, United States — 49.82 (2009)
4. Milorad Cavic, Serbia — 49.95 (2009)
5. Maxime Grousset, France — 50.14 (2023)

His gold medal adds to a pretty nice medal haul at these Worlds, as he picked up bronze earlier in both the 50 fly and 100 free.

The dearth of champions in the race was a huge opportunity for many of the rising stars in this race. Grousset is one of those who grabbed it. And now, even though the Paris Games may see the return of some of those veteran champions, Grousset is now a champion himself.

It’s clear that though he’s enjoying the moment, he also has one eye fixed on the approaching Olympics. “It was very good. I am feeling very great, he said after the race. “Now I am happy to be here in Japan. I am in good shape and have good confidence for next year. Let’s go!”

He echoed those feelings in his Instagram post celebrating his win. He wrote “I’ve been waiting a long time for this and it’s finally here!! I don’t have words to describe this feeling…still a long way to Paris but I’m excited and ready.”

Heading into Paris, his newfound butterfly speed has given the French men another serious medal contender. Plus, though Grousset and Marchand don’t overlap in their primary international events, they do both race on the men’s medley relay. Marchand on breaststroke and Grousset on fly provides a stellar middle 200 for the French, as they look to see if this is perhaps the relay where they can stage an upset at the 2024 Olympics…

Quick Hits

Sarah Sjöström and Rūta Meilutytė Set WRs in Semis

It felt like the pool was on fire during tonight’s finals session, especially during the run of: women’s 50 fly final, men’s 50 free final, women’s 50 free semifinal, and women’s 50 breast final. A large part of that is thanks to the exploits of Sarah Sjöström and Rūta Meilutytė, both of whom set world records in their respective semifinals.

Sarah Sjöström, courtesy of Fabio Cetti

Let’s start with Sjöström. She got the session started by winning gold in the 50 fly, speeding to a 24.77. She was the only woman in the field under 25 seconds, and like many of them she barely had a chance to catch her breath before marching out for the 50 fly semifinal. About 17 minutes after winning gold in the 50 fly, Sjöström fired off a world record, blasting 23.61. That swim took six-hundredths off the previous world record, which she set at the 2017 World Championships.

In addition, her 50 fly gold medal tied her with Michael Phelps for most individual Worlds medals. She’ll get the opportunity to pass him tomorrow in the 50 free final.

Then in the very next event, Meilutytė equalled Benedetta Pilato‘s 50 breaststroke world record. Since returning to the world stage last summer, Meilutytė has been knocking at the door of this record. She scared it the 2022 European Championships, swimming a PB of 29.44. And now, she’s hit the mark, adding another chapter to her impressive comeback story. Like Sjöström, Meilutytė will get another crack at the world record in the final.

Katie Shanahan Places #4 in 200 Back, Climbs to #3 on GB All-Time List

One of the major narratives of these World Championships has been how swimmers have responded after a setback in the early days of the meet. We saw it with Summer McIntosh, Kaylee McKeown, Josh Liendo–and now Katie Shanahan adds her name to the list of swimmers who have bounced back from early disappointment in Fukuoka.

Shanahan was one of the three women disqualified in the 200 IM semifinals. It was a big disappointment for Shanahan, who’s currently racing at her first World Championships. She had a few days off, and returned to racing in the women’s 200 backstroke, where she made it all the way to the final.

There, she held onto her fourth-place seed, putting in a dig in the closing meters to notch a new personal best of 2:07.45. Her previous best was a 2:07.81. It was a confidence building swim for the young swimmer. It also makes also the third-fastest British performer in the history of the event, passing Cassie Wild. Now, she’s behind only Gemma Spofforth and Elizabeth Simmonds and is less than a second off Spofforth’s national record of 2:06.66 from 2009.

Other Continental and National Records

• In the men’s 50 backstroke heats, Alexis Santos equaled his own Portugese record of 25.48. This is now the second year straight that the 31-year-old has hit that mark at World Championships. He first set the record at 25.48 last year in Budapest.
• Neža Klančar now set two Slovenian records in two days. One day removed from taking down the 50 fly national record, the 23-year-old swam 24.80 in the 50 freestyle. That lowered her old national record–done in May 2021–by .16 seconds.
• The women’s 50 breaststroke heats saw Andrea Podmaniková set a new Slovak record. Podmaniková clocked 31.43 to lower her own national record, which she set a 31.63 back in 2019.

European Medal Table Thru Day 6