The French Swimming Federation released their French Press kit (dossier, to be truly French), and for the first time we’ve gotten some firm confirmation on who will be swimming what at the World Championships.
The biggest surprise is that Yannick Agnel is listed back in the 100 and 200 freestyles, despite telling French media in May that he would only swim relays at the World Championships due to interruptions in his training caused by illness. This is the second-straight World Championship meet at which Agnel has proclaimed to drop certain events because of illness and then eventually swum it anyway (in 2011, it was the 400 free, where he eventually finished in 6th place).
He is ascribed to swim the 100 free, the 200 free, the 400 free relay, and the 800 free relay, though not the 400 medley relay, where he would be expected to anchor were he in top form. That fourth spot, though, is still very much up in the air, as only Jeremy Stravius, Camille Lacourt, and Mehdy Metella are currently listed as being a part of that relay for certain.
Stravius will swim individually in the 50 back, the 100 back, the 100 fly, and the 200 IM, in addition to relay duties, after having by-far the best meet of all of the French men at their National Trials.
And finally, Camille Muffat, the star of the women’s program, is entered in the 100, 200, and 400 freestyles. She has swum as well-as-ever in the 100 this year, though until this ascription there was still some question as to whether she’d spend time on it at Worlds with gold medals possible in the 200 and 400 freestyles (and, perhaps, the favorite in both events).
Very curious to see what kind of form that Agnel has in store for us. He was in amazing shape at the Olympics and we know that he carried on that form well past the Olympics with his and Muffat’s incredible SCM season. He was sick at the French trials and still managed to do pretty well – most notably I think going out in a 23.98 (fastest opening 50m split ever in an individual) in the 200m. He’s also visibly gained a bit of muscle since the last year, which will help his speed.
Despite the split with Pellerin, it appears as if he’s only taken a relatively short break and there were previous reports from the NBAC that… Read more »
Bobo may agree, but Gogo may have different opinion. 🙂
Agnel will swim a 1:40.9 after swimming with Misseur Bowman under the watchful eye of Michael Phelps. He uses Conor Dwyer as a sherpa to bring his gear to practice on a daily basis and spends 5 hours a day in MP’s hyperbaric chamber all the while watching videos of Biederman’s 1:42 to keep him motivated.
He will swim the race like Muffat going out in a 53.6 to be last place in the 100 and then post a near world record bringing it home in a 47.3. He has shared this info with the french press. And please do not compare me to Bobo, we are different people, must you be so rude???
> He’s also visibly gained a bit of muscle since the last year, which will help his speed.
Yes, wikipedia still states he’s 80 kg/176 lb but on the fact sheet released by French Swimming Federation yesterday he’s gained 11kg’s so he is 91 kg/ 200 lb now. He is clearly heading towards shorter distances.
agnel said he would swim the 200 free ; he said that in an interview on french national tv today.
Excellent that Agnel is coming back alive.
I’ve a bit mixed feelings about Muffat’s preference for 100m instead of swimming 800m. Both events begin after her trademarks, i.e. 200m and 400m. I can easily see her fighting for victory in 800m but even a bronze in 100m would be a sensation.
Supposedly, she wants to have just a little bit fun after her main course and I can’t point my finger at her because of that.
But I don’t know if we must take very seriously everything which is in this press kit. Perhaps we will have other surprises in the next days!
Thank you bobo gigi for the news! 🙂
Who knew Agnel is such a drama queen?