2016 French Elite Long Course National Championships and Olympic Trials Selection Meet
- Dates: Tuesday, March 29 – Sunday, April 3, 2016
- Times: prelims 9:00 am, finals 6:15 pm
- Location: Montpellier, France (GMT +1, or 6 hours ahead of N.Y., 9 ahead of L.A.)
- Live results: Available
- Live streaming: Available on beIN Sports
- Championship Central
Men’s 200 Meter Butterfly – Final
- French record: 1:54.62 4/18/2002 Chalon-Sur-Saône (FRA), Franck Esposito (31), CN Antibes 18/04/2002
- French standard for Rio: 1:55.27 (FINA A 1:56.97)
- French standard for Europe: 1:58.21
Defending champion Jordan Coelho (Stade de Vanves/Antibes) has been training with French record-holder Frack Esposito in Antibes for just six months; Esposito has a longer-term view for the young butterflier and was only hoping for a personal best in this race. Coelho came within .02 of making that happen; he won the race with 1:56.49. Paul Lemaire of Dauphins Toulouse OEC took it out with Coelho, turning first at the 100, about 1/10 ahead of the defending champion. At the end the two finished in the same order as last year as Lemaire took second in 1:58.17. Lemaire’s teammate, 19-year-old Matthias Marsau, registered a personal-best 1:58.45 and placed third.
The rest of the A final consisted of Marvin Maisonneuve (Montauban Natation) in 1:59.44, Nans Roch of St-Germain-en-Laye/Paris INSEP (2:01.99), Romain Mrowinski of Cévennes Alès (2:03.72), Julien Pinon of Canet 66 (2:03.97), and Thomas Vilaceca of Montauban (2:06.34).
Women’s 200 Meter Butterfly – Final
- French record: 2:05.09 7/29/2009 Rome (ITA), Aurore Mongel (27), Mulhouse ON
- French standard for Rio: 2:06.62 (FINA A 2:09.33)
- French standard for Europe: 2:10.29
Lara Grangeon of Calédoniens/Font-Romeu won her second event of the meet with, once again, a lifetime-best. Yet for the second time she missed the very difficult French standard for making the Rio team. Grangeon went right out, wasting no time to get ahead of the field. She was 1:01.4 at the 100, with Nice’s Marie Wattel on her heels. Grangeon came home in a strong 1:06.4, making for a winning time of 2:07.87 but missing the cut by 1.25 seconds. Wattel, meanwhile, had a very difficult finish and wound up third in 2:11.82. Kelsi Worrell’s back half took her past Wattel, as she touched in 2:10.45 for the second time overall.
After the leaders came several waves of finishers. Camille Wishaupt of Mulhouse (2:13.69) was fourth, followed by Morgan Rothon of Dijon (2:15.97), Gwladys Larzul of Dauphins Toulouse (2:16.83), Morgane Filippi of ASPTT Montpellier (2:17.91), and Charlyne Secrestat of Clamart/Paris INSEP (2:18.43).
Men’s 200 Meter Backstroke – Final
- French record: 1:56.39 3/23/2012 Dunkerque (FRA), Benjamin Stasiulis (26), Amiens Métropole Natation 23/03/2012
- French standard for Rio: 1:56.13 (FINA A 1:58.22)
- French standard for Europe: 1:59.08
Benjamin Stasiulis of Marseille successfully defended his 2015 title with a dominant 1:58.48. He was .03 off his winning time from last year and clearly disappointed with his swim. In the post-race interview he admitted he expected at least to make the FINA A standard. Geoffroy Mathieu of Clermont Natation claimed the silver medal in 2:00.03, a personal best by 1.7 seconds. The third step of the podium belonged to Maxence Orange of Nantes with 2:01.03, erasing 2.2 seconds off his previous personal best.
Christophe Brun of Dauphins Toulouse dropped nearly 2 seconds and earned a fourth-place finish with 2:01.36. Oleg Garasymovytch of CN Avignon took fifth in 2:02.49. Simon Brefuel of Canet 66/Font-Romeu notched a PB with his sixth-place finish of 2:03.72. Simon Lesaffre of Roubaix Natation (2:04.78) and Baptiste Leger of ES Massy (2:06.15) rounded out the A final.
Women’s 50 Meter Freestyle – Final
- French record: 24.58 8/1/2009 Rome (ITA), Malia Metella (27), Dauphins Toulouse OEC
- French standard for Rio: 24.57 (FINA A 25.28)
- French standard for Europe: 25.24
After the automatic qualification by Coralie Balmy in the 400 free and the French national record by Lara Grangeon in the 400 IM, the brightest spot in the women’s meet so far was the 50 free, which was across-the-board fast.
Defending champion Anna Santamans of Olympic Nice explosed off the blocks and swam an excellent 50, going a personal-best 24.59 for the win. Santamans was only 1/100 off the French national record and 2/100 away from the Rio cut, which only this morning had seemed far out of reach for the Niçoise. Santamans admitted feeling out of sorts in prelims, but she pulled it all together in finals and put herself in an excellent position to be chosen for the Rio team. Kelsi Worrell finished second in 25.06, a touch off her 24.98 time from prelims, which was a personal best. Third place went to Mélanie Henique of Amiens/Marseille in 25.13, her best time by .26. Marseille’s Béryl Gastaldello touched fourth in 25.33, her best by .08.
Mathilde Cini of Valence Triathlon/Marseille clocked a 25.40 for fifth, another Frenchwoman with a best time as she dropped .14 off her seed time. Lena Bousquin of Bordeaux Bastide (25.41), Anouchka Martin of Marseille (PB of 25.51), and Lauriane Haag of Toulouse (25.57) comprised the rest of the fast final.
Men’s 400 Meter Individual Medley – Final
- French record: 4:16.97 4/23/2009 Montpellier (FRA), Anthony Pannier (21), CN Braud St-Louis 23/04/2009
- French standard for Rio: 4:13.29 (FINA A 4:16.71)
- French standard for Europe: 4:19.27
Defending champion Nicolas D’Oriano of Dauphins Toulouse relied on a strong back half to win the 400 IM again; this time he went a personal-best 4:20.03, 2.5 seconds faster than last year. His teammate Geoffrey Renard and Tunisia’s Ahmed Mathlouthi, who trains at Sarcelles Natation, led the field over the first half of the race. Anthony Pannier, also of Sarcelles Natation, overtook Renard on the freestyle leg, and the order at the finish was D’Oriano, Mathlouthi (4:22.42), Pannier (4:23.94), and Renard (4:24.95). Each of the top four finishers registered a personal best time.
Cyril Chatron of Bron/Font-Romeu (4:25.80, best by 2.2), Yannick Chatelain of Nautic Club Nîmes (4:26.38), Samy Helmbacher of Dauphins Obernai (4:27.05, best by 4), and Mathis Castera of Dauphins Toulouse (4:28.96) rounded out the championship final.
So if I understand correctly, only 1 person made the French standard for Rio (Balmy) in 1 event and that was by a mere 0.2 s…
holy moly!
I like Berkoff’s Monaco idea. Monaco the next great EuroSwim Power?
so has the French federation committed to selecting 6 males and 6 females for the Olympics if their times are “close enough” to the mythical Olympic standards they have arbitrarily set ?
The Australians and Americans are laughing all the way to the podium. At this rate there will be no French relays. Three days and one qualifier. If the bureaucrats can “save” six swimmers (how condescending and paternalistic is that?) there’s little chance that France can field men’s and women’s relays. The athletes need to start a union and take control of the sport.
I was thinking that the next A final when the whistle blows all 8 guys should just take a seat on the blocks and see what happens.
According to his coach, Agnel’s morale is low right now.
I find that pretty reassuring. It shows he has not totally lost his competitive mind.
The rumor of saving Agnel gradually swells. No surprise.
Philippe Lucas thinks Agnel has probably not well touched. Maybe he has touched too low. He says there are a lot of refereeing mistakes every weekend in football. He could understand the controversy if Agnel had won in 1.44 well ahead of the others but not with a time like that. He also adds there would not be all that drama if the swimmer involved was Pothain and not Agnel an olympic champion. He’s also against that idea of repechage by the national team… Read more »
I don’t like Lucas explanations – even with all his experience . Its not authentic , this it . Stay home Philippe , it never happened to you so u can’t understand .
What were the manually taken times?
Bobo, don’t care about downvotes, you are making a nice job (even if yesterday, when you exchanged Agnel’s and Pothain’s time, you could have explained why.., anyway it doesn’t matter).
Great swim by Anna Santamans (just one hundredth of a second from Metella’s rubber NR at Rome2009), a nice freestyler who can make other progresses, and I am happy she will race at Rio.
In general, a great “autogoal” from French federation the decision of setting such a severe time cuts: everyone can easily note in how many races French swimmers are far from the international elite level, that those time cuts represent.
I agree, keep doing your thing BOBO. Trolls will troll
Trolls will sink with time …..
This may have been asked before, but where are these shadow downvotes for BOBO GIGI coming from? Does he have stalkers??
Gotta pay the troll toll.
Troll is a new job apparently – but it never pays well on the long run . LOL
So.. still no automatic qualifiers?