2020 FRENCH ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, December 10th – Sunday, December 13th
- Saint-Raphaël, France
- LCM (50m)
- Olympic Qualifying Meet
- French Olympic Qualifying Procedures
- SwimSwam Preview
- Start Lists
- Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
- Live Results
One of the fastest 50m freestylers ever was in the pool this morning to claim the top seed in his pet event as Florent Manaudou produced a time of 21.89. He hit the only sub-22 second mark of the morning, setting himself up for a potential gold in his first swim at these 2020 French Elite Championships.
That already sits just .09 away from the 21.80 qualification standard the French Swimming Federation (FFN) has dictated for this event.
The women’s sprint this morning was the 50m fly, with Melanie Henique taking the top seed in a ferocious time of 25.52. That is a huge personal best for 27-year-old, erasing her previous career-quickest of 25.63 from 2017.
In fact, Henique’s time here falls just .02 outside of Marie Wattel‘s national record of 25.50 set in Gwangju at last year’s World Championships. Wattel was in this prelims race as well, capturing the 2nd seed in 26.32 while last night’s 100m free victor Beryl Gastaldello rounded out the top 3 this morning in 26.47.
The men’s 200m fly saw Arizona State University-commit Leon Marchand produce not only a lifetime best but a new French Age Record for 18-year-olds, his 2nd in as many days.
Taking the top seed of the morning, Marchand busted out a 200m fly lifetime best of 1:56.73. That crushed the prelims field in the only sub-2:01 time of all the heats, comprised of splits of 55.85/1:00.88. You can read more about his age record here.
Additional Notes:
- The women’s 400m IM saw Fantine Lesaffre capture the top seed in 4:42.73.
- Mewen Tomac was within range of his personal best in the men’s 100m back, landing lane 4 in a time of 53.76.
- A tight battle is set to transpire in the women’s 200m free, with Charlotte Bonnet posting a morning swim of 1:58.46 to Russian Anna Egorova‘s 1:58.73. Belgium’s Valentine Dumont and Russia’s 800m free champion here already, Anastasia Kirpichnikova, are also in the mix.