16-Year-Old Justine Delmas Breaks 2009 French 200 Breast Record With 2:25.12

2021 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 6th – Sunday, July 11th
• Foro Italico, Rome, Italy
• Heats at 9:30 am local (3:30 am EST)/Finals at 6 pm local (Noon EST)
• LCM (50m)
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Recap

During the women’s 200 breaststroke semi-final at the 2021 European Swimming Championships France’s Justine Delmas delivered a 2:25.12 to set a new national record in the event. Delmas snatched the French record from Sophie de Ronchi who held it at a 2:25.19 which she set at the 2009 French Championships.

Delmas held a 2:27.05 PB in the event heading into the meet and swam a 2:28.50 during the heats followed and then dropped over 3 seconds in the semis to get down to a 2:25.12. Delmas will be the top seed heading into the final by over 2 seconds, holding a lead over Russia’s Elena Bogomolova and Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova who tied for second with a 2:27.57.

The 2:25.12 national record is also an improvement upon Delmas’ performance at the 2021 French National Championships. There, she posted a 2:28.31 to tie Fanny Deberghes for bronze while Fantine Lesaffre won gold in a 2:27.27 and Camille Dauba took silver with her 2:27.99. That meet also served as France’s final Olympic qualifying opportunity and since no one swam under the 2:25.52 FINA A, no women qualified to race the event for France in Tokyo.

While Delmas has now cracked the FINA A, the swim came after the qualification deadline for Tokyo and was not at a pre-approved qualifying meet under the French Swimming Federation’s Olympic selected protocol. That means that she won’t be able to qualify for the team at this point. France finalized its Olympic roster earlier this month with the women’s squad featuring no entrants for the 100 or 200 breaststroke.

Delmas will race the women’s 200 breaststroke final on Friday, July 9, and will be the favorite to win gold with her newly minted national record. On day 2 of the meet Delmas hit a 31.32 in the women’s 50 breaststroke final to place 5th overall.