2019 French Elite Nationals: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2019 French Elite National Championships– 50M

• Tuesday 16th to Sunday 21st April 2019
• Prelims from 9.30am; final C from 18:00; final A / B from 18h30
• Host: Brittany Regional Swimming League
• Bréquigny swimming pool, 12 boulevard Albert 1er, RENNES
• 50m
• French qualifying rules for 2019 World Championships
• Start list: available here
• Results: available here

DAY 1:  TUESDAY 16 APRIL 2019

WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY

• FINA “A” cut: 58.48
• Time to achieve for the world championships: 58.30
• French record: Aurore Mongel (MON) – 56.89 (27/07/09 – Rome)

PODIUM:

1. Béryl Gastaldello, CN Marseille – 57.69
2. Marie Wattel, Montpellier Métropole – 58.00
3. Lena Bousquin, CN Marseille – 59.56

Béryl Gastaldello, an All-American from Texas A&M University who represents Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille when swimming in France, stared the meet of with a bang, breaking the Championship Record in the women’s 100 fly with 57.69. Gastaldello had entered the event with no time and swam in the first heat of the morning. She nonetheless produced a 58.46 in prelims, and although she qualified second for the final, she missed the French cut for Gwangju by .16. Marie Wattel, who is at Loughborough University but represents Montpellier in France, came in second with 58.00, just off her morning time of 57.81 which *did* qualify her for the event at Worlds. Third to the wall was Marseille’s Lena Bousquin in 59.56. That is Bousquin’s first sub-1:00. She was seeded with 1:01.82 and swam 1:00.14 in prelims to qualify 4th for the final.

Wattel qualified outright for the 2019 World Championships in the 100 fly, having swum the French qualifying standard in the morning and finished in top-2 at night. (One might assume that Gastaldello will be chosen for the women’s medley relay, given that her 100 fly time is now the fastest. But that decision rests with the National Technical Director.)

MEN’S 400 IM

• FINA “A” cut: 4:17.90
• Time to achieve for the world championships: 4.16.10
• French record: Anthony Pannier (CN Braud St Louis) – 4.16.97 (23/04/2009 – Montpellier)

PODIUM:

1. Jeremy Desplanches, Olympic Nice Natation – 4:12.86
2. Samy Helmbacher, Dauphins Obernai – 4:18.17
3. Antoine Marc, Mulhouse – 4:18.43

Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches, who trains in Nice under Fabrice Pellerin, broke his own Swiss National Record in the 400 IM once again, obliterating the field with 4:12.86. His previous record of 4:13.11 had stood for two years. Desplanches was out fast in 57.02 on the fly. Léon Marchand of Toulouse was a second behind him, followed by Samy Helmbacher (Dauphins Obernai) and Geoffrey Renard of Toulouse. All three were 58-low-to-mid, while the rest of the field turned at the minute mark. Desplanches pulled further ahead with the backstroke, splitting 1:04.26, again the fastest by over a second. He maintained his lead over the breast with 1:12.07, but it wasn’t the fastest leg in the heat. Mulhouse’s Antoine Marc went 1:10.95 to pull into third place, passing his teammate Clément Bidard whose backstroke split of 1:05 had moved him toward the front of the pack behind Desplanches.

Desplanches came home in 59.51 to seal his new record of 4:12.86. Helmbacher touched second in 4:18.17, just holding off Marc (4:18.43) whose final leg of 58.07 was almost 2.5 seconds faster than Helmbacher’s. Marc, who had qualified 9th for the 100 breast final, had scratched that event to focus on the IM.

No French swimmer qualified for World Championships in the men’s 400 IM.

MEN’S 50 BUTTERFLY

• FINA “A” cut: 23.66
• Time to achieve for the world championships: 23.30
• French record: Fred Bousquet (CN Marseille) – 22.84 (22/04/2009 – Montpellier)

PODIUM:

1. Mehdy Metella, CN Marseille – 23.56
2. Jérémy Stravius, Amiens Métropole Nat. – 23.58
3. Yonel Govindin, CN Marseille – 23.84

It was a battle to the finish between French Olympians Mehdy Metella of Marseille and Jérémy Stravius of Amiens, who now trains in Nice with Pellerin. Metella got to the wall 2/100 ahead of Stravius, and although they both hit the FINA A cut, neither swimmer met the French standards to swim the event at World Championships. It took going sub-23.3 in prelims and then finishing in the top 2 in the final. Metella is already qualified in the 100 fly and 100 free, having medaled in both events at European Championships last summer, but Stravius has yet to make the team. He has three more chances this week: 50 back (Thursday), 100 free (Friday), and 100 fly (Sunday).

Marseille’s Yonel Govindin was the only other sub-24 in the final, stopping the clock in 23.84. He came into the meet seeded sixth with 24.12, and qualified sixth for the final with 24.35.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE

• FINA “A” cut: 4:10.57
• Time to achieve for the world championships: 4.09.06
• French record: Camille Muffat (ONN) – 4.01.13 (27/07/09 – Rome)

PODIUM:

1. Anna Egorova (RUS), Montpellier Métropole – 4:10.73
2. Fantine Lesaffre, State de Vanves – 4:12.07
3. Lara Grangeon, CN Calédoniens – 4:12.68

Russia’s Anna Egorova, who trains in Montpellier with the Philippe Lucas group, cruised to a 4:10.73 win in the women’s 400 free. Seeded with 4:08.18, Egorova led by about a stroke over Fantine Lesaffre (Vanves) at the 100. Lesaffre outsplit the Russian over the middle two 100s, but Egorove took off over the final two laps, closing in 1:01 to win by over a body length. Lesaffre hung in for second place, taking nearly 8/10 off her seed time to finish with 4:12.07. Lara Grangeon (CN Calédoniens) crept up on Lesaffre over the second half of the race and finished in third place with 4:12.68, improving her seed time (4:15.06) by 2.4 seconds.

No French swimmer qualified outright for the 400 free, but Lesaffre has already made the French team in the 400 IM by virtue of her European title in the event last summer.

MEN’S 100 BREAST

• FINA “A” cut: 59.95
• Time to achieve for the world championships: 59.90
• French record: Hugues Duboscq (CN Le Havre) – 58.56 (27/07/2009 – Rome)

PODIUM:

1. Théo Bussière, CN Marseille – 1:00.31
2. Antoine Viquerat, Dauphins Toulouse – 1:01.38
3. Thomas Boursac Cervera Lortet, Dauphins Toulouse – 1:01.68

The final win of the night went to Marseille’s Théo Bussière. The 2016 Olympian put up a stellar performance given all he’s been through over the last year. After a shoulder operation in October, three months out of the water to heal, picking up his training again in January, then showing up at French Nationals and trying to make the Worlds team, Bussière showed grit. His perseverance paid off. While he was 9/10 off his best time (59.46), he nonetheless beat the field by a body length and earned another national title to add to his collection.

Bussière went out like he’d been shot out of a cannon. He turned at 27.97, already half a second up on Toulouse’s Antoine Viquerat (28.38), Cergy Pontoise’s Thibaut Capitaine (28.58), and Jean Dencausse (28.77), Bussière’s training partner in Marseille. Bussière held on over the second half of the race, while some of the early leaders faded. Bussière touched in 1:00.31, a full body ahead of Viquerat (1:01.38), while Toulouse’s Thomas Boursac Cervera Lortet pulled into third at the end, going 1:01.68 to touch out Capitaine (1:01.71).

Qualified individually for Gwangju: