2018 French Nationals Saint-Raphaël Day 6: Top-5 800 for David Aubry with 7:50.09

2018 French Elite Long Course Nationals at Saint-Raphaël

• Tuesday, May 22 – Sunday, May 27, 2018
• Stade Nautique Alain Chateigner
• 50m
• Prelims at 9am local/Finals at 6pm local (Saturday 5:30, Sunday 5:45)
• Selection for European Championships
• Televised on beIN SPORTS
• Meet Central
• Start Lists
• Live Results

Day 6

At the conclusion of Day 6 at French Elite National Championships in Saint-Raphaël, the final list of qualifiers for 2018 European Championships in Glasgow is as follows:

As a reminder, the FFN’s criteria for making the French squad for European Championships were: The four fastest swimmers who achieve, in prelims, the qualifying times in Table 1 below AND who place among the top four eligible (French) swimmers in the final of that event, will be selected to represent France in Glasgow.

Women’s 400 Free

• Euro 2018 qualifying criteria: 4:10.48 in prelims; top-4 in finals

1. Anna Egorova (RUS) (Montpellier Métropole Natation) 4:08.18
2. Fantine Lesaffre (Montpellier Métropole Natation / France Natation Course Marseille) 4:12.84
3. Margaux Fabre (Canet 66 Natation) 4:14.02
4. Alizée Morel (Dauphins Toulouse OEC / Pôle France Natation Course Toulouse) 4:18.17

Russia’s Anna Egorova, who trains in Montpellier, took a cool 4 seconds off her seed time to win the 400 free in 4:08.18. She knocked Montpellier teammate Sharon van Rouwendaal (NED) out of the championship final (only one foreign athlete is allowed in each A final, except in the 100 free and 200 free finals where none are allowed) by qualifying ahead of her in prelims, 4:12.80 to 4:12.89.

The French national title went to Fantine Lesaffre, her fifth of the meet. Lesaffre would have needed to drop 2 seconds from her seed time of 4:12.40 to have qualified for Glasgow; she went 4:20.89 in prelims. The fastest French swimmer in the morning was Margaux Fabre with 4:19.95.

Men’s 800 Free

• Euro 2018 qualifying criteria: 7:57.62 in prelims; top-4 in finals

1. David Aubry (Montpellier Métropole Natation) 7:50.09 RcF
2. Damien Joly (Montpellier Métropole Natation / Pôle France Natation Course Antibes) 7:57.83
3. Joris Bouchaut (Stade de Vanves) 8:01.61

David Aubry added the 800 free to his slate of events for the European Championships, taking down the meet record in the process with 7:50.09 in Sunday’s final. Aubry had swum a 7:57.09 in prelims on Saturday, just sneaking in under the qualifying standard with a personal best by .58. He destroyed that PB by 7 full seconds in the final, and catapulted himself into the world’s top-5 for the season.

Second to the wall was Damien Joly in 7:57.83. It was a better swim than his prelims performance, but 5.1 seconds off his seed time. Joris Bouchaut rounded out the podium with 8:01.61. He missed punching his ticket to Glasgow by a mere .24, going 7:57.86 in prelims.

Women’s 200 Back

• Euro 2018 qualifying criteria: 2:13.03 in prelims; top-4 in finals

1. Valériya Egorova (RUS) (Montpellier Métropole Natation) 2:13.12
2. Mathilde Cini (Valence Triathlon / Pôle France Natation Course Marseille) 2:14.05
3. Cyrielle Duhamel (Stade Béthune Pélican Club) 2:14.60
4. Louise Lefebvre (Mulhouse ON / Pôle France Natation Course Mulhouse) 2:14.74

Another Egorova with a big drop was Valériya Egorova, who clocked a 2:13.12 to erase 1.35 seconds from previous her personal best and win the women’s 200 back by nearly a full second over Mathilde Cini. Cini, who was runner-up in this event last year, earned the title of French national champion. Cyrielle Duhamel finished third in 2:14.60, just ahead of 15-year-old backstroke sensation Louise Lefebvre. Lefebvre lowered her own NAG record from 2:15.34 to 2:14.74.

Coming very close to qualifying for Glasgow with 2:13.26 and 2:13.50 in prelims were defending champion Camille Gheorghiu and Cini, respectively.

Men’s 100 Fly

• Euro 2018 qualifying criteria: 52.78 in prelims; top-4 in finals

1. Mehdy Metella (CN Marseille / Pôle France Natation Course Marseille) 51.92
2. Pierre Henry Arrenous (ASPTT Poitiers / Pôle France Natation Course Paris INSEP) 52.61
3. Nans Roch (CN Antibes / Pôle France Natation Course Antibes) 53.26

Mehdy Metella, defending champion and French record-holder in this event, cruised to an easy win in the men’s 100 fly on Sunday with 51.92 in the final. He had met the qualifying time for Glasgow in prelims with 51.69. Pierre Henry Arrenous punched his ticket to Euros with a stunning 52.63 in prelims, taking 1.26 off his seed time. In finals he went another .02 faster to claim the silver medal. Nans Roch notched a new PB of 53.26 with his third-place finish.

Women’s 50 Fly

• Euro 2018 qualifying criteria: 26.14 in prelims; top-4 in finals

1. Mélanie Henique (CN Marseille / Pôle France Natation Course Marseille) 25.71
2. Marie Wattel (Montpellier Métropole Natation) 26.16
3. Charlotte Bonnet (Olympic Nice Natation / Pôle France Natation Course Nice) 26.20

French record-holder Mélanie Henique successfully defended her title in the 50 fly, coming within .08 of her national record with a winning 25.71. Marie Wattel and Charlotte Bonnet finished second and third, nearly half a body length behind Henique. Both Wattel and Bonnet went best times but neither qualified for Glasgow in the event.

Naële Portecop of Amiens took a big chunk out of Wattel’s National Age Group Record for 15-year-old girls. She finished fifth overall with 26.94. Wattel had held the record since 2012 with 27.25.

Men’s 50 Free

• Euro 2018 qualifying criteria: 22.35 in prelims; top-4 in finals

1. Yonel Govindin (CN Marseille / Pôle France Natation Course Marseille) 22.13
2. Maxime Grousset (Amiens Métropole Natation / Pôle France Natation Course Amiens) 22.14
3. Oussama Sahnoune (ALG) (CN Marseille / Pôle France Natation Course Marseille) 22.30
4. Clément Mignon (CN Marseille / Pôle France Natation Course Marseille) 22.72

Yonel Govindin scored his first ticket to European Championships as well as a national title in the 50 free with a narrow win over Maxime Grousset, 22.13 to 22.14. Grousset, the silver medalist at 2017 FINA Junior World Championships, led the morning heats with a Glasgow-qualifying time of 22.15, a PB by .10. Govindin made it through too with 22.33, his best by .05. Govindin said in the post-race press conference that he “made some adjustments” that “paid off” in the final. Indeed, he dropped another .20 and got the win in a strong field of sprinters.

Women’s 50 Breast

• Euro 2018 qualifying criteria: 31.14 in prelims; top-4 in finals

1. Fanny Deberghes (ASPTT Montpellier) 31.66
2. Solène Gallego (Dauphins Toulouse OEC / Pôle France Natation Course CREPS Toulouse) 32.13
3. Carmella Kitching (AAS Sarcelles Natation) 32.18

There were no qualifiers for European Championships in the final event of the meet, the women’s 50 breast. Fanny Deberghes swam the only sub-32s in the field in both prelims (31.79) and finals (31.66) but neither met the time standard for the event. Deberghes would have had to go a personal best in prelims by .32 in order to punch her ticket to Glasgow. Defending champion Solène Gallego was runner-up this year in 32.13.

Table n°1: Individual Qualifying Time Standards

Table n°2: Relay Qualifying Time Standards