2023 FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIPS (25M)
- Thursday, October 26th – Sunday, October 29th
- Angers, France
- SCM (25m)
- Entries
- SwimSwam Preview
- Live Results
It didn’t take long for Anastasia Kirpichnikova to make an impact on the French Record books in her debut swimming under the nation’s flag in short course meters, shattering a near two-decade-old mark in the women’s 1500 freestyle.
Competing in the first final of the 2023 French Short Course Championships on Thursday, Kirpichnikova dominated the event en route to gold in a time of 15:33.42, breaking the National Record of 15:42.39 set by Laure Manaudou back in 2004.
Kirpichnikova was only cleared to represent France this past June, having raced with the Russian contingent throughout her career up until a few months ago.
Despite knocking nearly nine seconds off Manaudou’s French Record in the 1500 free, Kirpichnikova’s swim is still a far cry from her personal best time, which stands at 15:18.30 from the 2021 European Short Course Championships where she came within three-tenths of the world record.
That swim still ranks her #3 all-time in the event, with Katie Ledecky having obliterated the previous world record held by Sarah Kohler (15:18.01) in a time of 15:08.24 at the World Cup stop in Toronto last October.
The 23-year-old Kirpichnikova won Thursday’s race by 31 seconds, with veteran Lara Grangeon a distant runner-up in 16:04.42.
In her lone appearance representing France on the international stage, Kirpichnikova set a new French Record in the long course 1500 free at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, clocking 15:48.53 to place 4th overall.