2024 French Olympic Trials: Day 2 Prelims – Recap

2024 FRENCH ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Sunday, June 16 – Friday, June 21
• Chartres, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Entry List
• Results
• Prelims: Day 1 |
• Finals: Day 1 |

The big news from this morning’s session of the 2024 French Olympics Trials was, naturally, Leon Marchand‘s first appearance. Marchand, who captured half of France’s medals at the 2023 World Championships, took to the water in Chartres in his signature event: the 400 IM. Eleven months ago, Marchand broke Michael Phelps‘s 400 IM record, a record that had been in Phelps’ name for over twenty years.

This morning, Marchand swam a smooth and controlled 4:14.88, easily taking the top seed by nearly eight seconds over visiting Algerian swimmer Jaouad Syoud (4:22.59) and fellow French men Emilen Mattenet (4:23.15). The world record holder obviously has much more left in the tank, as he came home in the last 100 in 1:03.17, whereas in Fukuoka, he split 58.22 over the last 100.

Marchand will be chasing after a 4:12.50 Olympic Qualifying Time but should easily eclipse that mark. Marchand has a season-best of 4:11.21, which occurred right after the NCAAs in April.

The 100 back will also bring some excitement as two of France stars, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard and Mewen Tomac, will look to go head to head. With two spots on the line, each should be well-prepared to make the team. This morning, Ndoye-Brouard led the field with a 53.25, just ahead of Tomac’s 53.54. Both were already under the OQT of 53.74 this morning, but each will be looking to finish first and become the presumptive choice for the backstroke leg on the medley relay.

While none of the women in the 100 back managed to break the one-minute barrier, the final is still expected to be a fast affair. With the Olympic Qualifying time being 59.99, top seed Mary-Ambre Moluh, who was 1:00.75, will be in hot pursuit. Behind her, however, is a strong field, as Analia Pigree, Emma Terebo, and Pauline Mahieu are all within a second.

Other Event Winners

• Women’s 400 IM: Cyrielle Duhamel was 4:48.31 to lead the field but will need to drop roughly ten seconds to make the qualifying time.
• Men’s 200 Free: With relay spots on the line, the men’s event this morning was a close affair. Wissam-Amazigh Yebba led the group swimming 1:47.77, but was closely shadowed by Rafael Fente Damers. With an OQT time of 1:46.26, the leaders will need to drop a second and a half to qualify individually.
• Women’s 200 Free: Much like with the men, with relay spots on the line, competition is expected to be fierce. Winner of 400 free, Anastasiia Kirpichnikova led the group this morning by .26 over Assia Touati. Winner of the 100 fly last night, Marie Wattel DNSed the event this morning.