20th FRENCH ELITE SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 20th French Elite Short Course Championships are nearly upon us, with action kicking off Thursday, October 29th and spanning through Sunday, November 1st in Angers, France.
The meet represents the primary qualification opportunity for French athletes to add their names to the nation’s roster for this year’s Short Course World Championships, with the French Swimming Federation (FFN) aligning with the World Aquatics’ A cuts as their selection standards.
Although four-time Olympic champion and world record holder Leon Marchand is not entered in the competition, the rest of France’s best are scheduled to race across the four-day affair.
World champion Maxime Grousset leads the charge, joined by the likes of such powerhouse athletes as Melanie Henique, Damien Joly, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Clement Secchi, Mewen Tomac, Beryl Gastaldello and Marie Wattel.
Also among the entrants is Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui, who is slated to make a rather elusive appearance after withdrawing from this year’s Mediterranean Games.
As we reported in August, Olympic gold medalist Hafnaoui decided to withdraw from the Games after a meeting between representatives of the Tunisian Swimming Federation, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Hafnaoui’s personal representatives, where a doctor cited his “lack of mental and physical readiness to participate.”
The Mediterranean Games would have been Hafnaoui’s first major international long course meet since returning from a 21-month suspension for missing doping tests.
We’ll be reporting daily recaps as the competition unfolds, so stay tuned to see how the French roster pans out in Angers.
