Grousset And Gastaldello Each Earn Two Victories To Kick Off French SC Championships

20th FRENCH ELITE SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 20th French Elite Short Course Championships kicked off today from Angers, with the nation’s swimmers vying for potential slots on the roster for this year’s Short Course World Championships.

27-year-old Olympic relay medalist Maxime Grousset wasted no time making his presence known, with the world champion firing off victories in both the men’s 100m fly and the 100m IM events.

In the former, Grousset stopped the clock at a speedy result of 49.09, representing one of two sub-50-second swimmers in the field.

Joining him under the barrier was Clement Secchi, who notched 49.76, good enough for silver, as Amaury Albar rounded out the podium in 50.71.

The men were chasing a World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 50.15, so both Grousset and Secchi made the grade.

For Grousset, his 49.09 outing checked in as the 8th-best time of his career, one which boasts a lifetime best of 48.10 from taking gold at last year’s European Short Course Championships.

Secchi’s performance clocked a new career-swiftest result, overtaking the 49.96 he put up at last year’s edition of these championships.

Grousset now ties Japan’s Shoon Mitsunaga as the 5th-fastest man in the world this season.

Grousset’s next victim was the 100m IM, where the Frenchman dominated the field in a time of 51.44.

That beat his competitors by over a second en route to easily achieving the 52.98 World Aquatics ‘A’ standard, with Alexandre D’Agata also making the cut with a runner-up-worthy time of 52.70.

Lucien Vergnes bagged the bronze in 52.97.

The top three performers in the men’s 400m free all cleared the ‘A’ standard of 3:42.18 with ease, led by 28-year-old Roman Fuchs.

Fuchs stopped the clock at 3:37.68, a new personal best. His performance took down his former PB of 3:38.31, which rendered him the 5th-place finisher at the 2024 Short Course World Championships.

The silver medalist this evening was Sauver Cristofini, with the rising 17-year-old busting out a mark of 3:38.84 to establish a new French National Age Record.

Entering this competition, the promising star’s PB checked in at the 3:39.69 he logged last year, so he beat that by nearly a second en route to qualifying for Beijing.

David Aubry‘s time of 3:39.63 was also a solid outing for the veteran, giving him the bronze medal.

Of note, Olympic champion Ahmed Hafnaoui was indeed in the race, but settled for 5th place in a time of 3:39.63.

Both Fuchs and Cristofini sneak into the top 6 of the season’s world rankings.

On the women’s side, 31-year-old veteran Beryl Gastaldello picked up two wins, topping the 50m back and 100m free podiums this evening.

Gastaldello, a six-time Short Course World Championships medalist, produced a time of 25.95 to get to the wall in the only sub-26-second time of the 50m back field.

Analia Pigree was a hair behind, settling for silver in 26.04, followed by Pauline Mahieu, who touched in 26.17.

The women were after a 26.54 ‘A’ cut, which means the top three easily beat that mark.

In the 100m free, Gastaldello stopped the clock at a swift 52.08. Although that was well outside her lifetime best of 50.60 from earning silver at last year’s European Short Course Championships, it was enough to easily clear the SC Worlds qualification benchmark of 53.02 needed for Beijing.

Marina Jehl also earned a potential SC Worlds bid with her effort of 52.98, with Giulia Rossi-Bene falling just short in 53.33 as tonight’s bronze medalist.

Additional Notes

• The women’s 1500m free saw Laura Gourgeon get it done for gold, hitting 15:59.50 to take the victory under the 16:00 barrier. Lou-Ann Gaudaire earned the silver in 16:10.24 ahead of Valentine Leclercq, who notched 16:16.36 for bronze. Gourgeon was the sole competitor to qualify for Beijing, dipping beneath the ‘A’ cut of 16:03.59.
• Bene doubled up on her 100m free bronze with a gold in the 50m breast. She registered 30.27 for the top spot, holding off Russia’s Nika Godun and Chloe Braun, who cleaned up the minor medals. The former logged 30.39 to the latter’s 31.12. Bene fell painstakingly shy of the 30.21 QT needed for Beijing.
• Yohann Ndoye-Brouard found success in the men’s 200m back, posting 1:49.31 for the 2nd-best time of his career. Only his time of 1:49.23 has been faster, with that PB earning him a 4th-place finish at the 2022 SC World Championships. Tonight, domestic rival Mewen Tomac touched in 1:50.61 as the silver medalist, with Mathys Chouchaoui delivering a result of 1:51.76 for bronze. The trio manhandled the QT of 1:52.11.
• The women’s 200m IM saw Bertille Cousson turn in the speediest result, touching in 2:10.13 for the narrow victory over Camille Tissandie. Tissandie hit the timepad a fingernail behind in 2:10.25, with Cyrielle Duhamel bagging the bronze in 2:11.45. The women needed at least a time of 2:09.37 to add the event to their potential lineups for this year’s SC World Championships.