Leon Marchand Clocks 2:09.88 200 Breast Prelim At French Championships

2023 FRENCH ELITE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Sunday, June 11th – Friday, June 16th
• Rennes, France
• LCM (50m)
• World Championships Qualifier
• FFN Selection Criteria
• Meet Central
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The 2023 French Elite Championships kicked off today in Rennes, representing the sole opportunity for racers to qualify for the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

All eyes are on Arizona State University swimmer Leon Marchand, with the 21-year-old beginning his six-event campaign in the men’s 200m breaststroke this morning.

Marchand easily topped the 2breast heats, producing an effort of 2:09.88 to land lane 4 for the final. Already, the time checks in as the 3rd fastest of Marchand’s career, with his resume boasting a lifetime best of 2:08.76 and a 2:09.24 outing, both from last year.

This morning, Marchand split as follows to hold nearly a one-second advantage over the next-quickest swimmer Marc Antoine who clocked 2:10.67 as the 2nd seed.

Leon Marchand‘s 2:09.88 Splits

29.20
32.35 (1:01.55)
33.37
34.96 (1:08.33)

A battle is brewing in the men’s 50m fly, with Maxime Grousset hitting a morning swim of 23.48 while Olympic champion Florent Manaudou was right behind in 23.69.

This race represents just one of several duels in store between the 2 speedsters who will also meet in the 50m free and 100m free events.

Of note, the French record holder in the 100m fly, Mehdy Metella, was also in the heats of the 50m fly but placed well out of the final in 18th in 24.39.

The 30-year-old is still trying to get back to his best form after having dealt with a shoulder injury that rendered him out of the 2020 Olympic Games.

Marie Wattel made her presence known in the women’s 100m fly, posting an AM outing of 58.47 as the only swimmer under 59 seconds in the heats.

Lilou Ressencourt was next in mark of 59.74, carrying her momentum from a packed racing schedule this calendar year. Ressencourt topped the women’s 200m fly podium at the 2023 Euro Meet and also took the long fly event at the Monaco stop of this year’s Mare Nostrum Tour.

Wattel, too, competed on the Mare Nostrum Tour, with her highest 100m fly finish coming in Barcelona where she placed 6th in a mark of 59.57. The fact she’s already beaten that by over a second bodes well for tonight’s final where the 26-year-old will be chasing the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 58.33.

Newly-minted French representative Anastasia Kirpichnikova clocked a time of 4:10.05 to take the top seed in the women’s 400m free by over 4 seconds while Joris Bouchaut landed lane 4 for the men.

Bouchat logged an effort of 3:48.74 to get an edge over Logan Fontaine who will be in the 4free mix with his 3:49.32 morning swim.

It’s interesting to note that Marc-Antoine Olivier was indeed in the 4free field this morning, despite having been reportedly suspended by the FFN for open water swimming. We’ll be looking into this situation and will report what we find.

Fantine Lesaffre took the top spot in the women’s 200m IM in a time of 2:13.51 while Cyrielle Duhamel and Charlott Bonnet will also be looking for a medal and World Championships QT in tonight’s final.