2018 FRENCH OPEN – CHARTRES
- Saturday, July 7th – Sunday, July 8th
- LCM
- Results
The 2018 French Open in Chartres concluded today, with the nation’s stars battling against visiting contingencies from Brazil, Japan, Ukraine and other nations.
Newly-minted world record holder Andrii Govorov got the job done right away in Chartres, taking the men’s 50m fly in the only sub-23 second mark of the field. Touching in 22.73, Govorov was off his time of 22.27 world record established at Sette Colli, but it was enough to hold off Brazilian Pedro Vieira and Kazakstan’s Adilbek Mussin. The pair touched in 2nd and 3rd with respective times of 23.88 and 23.94.
French athlete Charlotte Bonnet completed a freestyle sweep, taking 2 victories on night 1, including the 200m free and 50m free events. In the 200m free, Bonnet stopped the clock in 1:56.59, almost 2 seconds ahead of the runner-up swimmer Manuella Lyrio of Brazil. Lyrio’s time was 1:58.47, so Bonnet was the only swimmer under 1:58.
Bonnet has been as fast as 1:55.53 this season, a time which remains as the 5th fastest in the world.
2017-2018 LCM WOMEN 200 FREE
RUCK
1.54.44
| 2 | Katie LEDECKY | USA | 1.54.56 | 06/08 |
| 3 | Rikako IKEE | JPN | 1.54.85 | 08/09 |
| 3 | Ariarne TITMUS | AUS | 1.54.85 | 04/05 |
| 5 | Charlotte BONNET | FRA | 1.54.95 | 08/06 |
The splash n’ dash saw Bonnet clock the only sub-25 second outing, touching in 24.66 for the win. That checks-in as the 23-year-old’s fastest outing ever, dropping .12 off her previous career-fastest of 24.78 from May’s French Nationals.
On night 2, Bonnet charged to the wall first in the 100m free, stopping the clock in 53.34. That beat the field by well over a second. Bonnet currently sits #4 in the world with her personal and season best of 52.74 from earlier this season.
Japan’s Reona Aoki, Kosuke Hagino and Yui Ohashi all raced multiple events in Chartres as more Asian Games and Pan Pacific Championship tune-ups. Hagino won the men’s 400m IM on night one, finishing in a solid time of 4:13.50. Hagino currently sits as the #3 swimmer in the world with his season-fastest 4:10.69 form this past April.
Swiss national record holder Jeremy Desplanches got the better of Hagino in the 200m IM, however. Desplanches crushed a winning effort of 1:57.77, a mark just .71 behind his season-best of 1:57.06. Hagino clocked a uncharacteristic time of 2:00.54, a mark well outside his usual 1:57-1:58 range that has been automatic the past couple of years.
Aoki proved too fast for the women’s 100m breaststroke field as she beat every lane by over 2 seconds. Aoki scored a winning time of 1:06.61, off her season-best of 1:05.90 that sits as the 3rd fastest mark worldwide. Aoki was in action in the 50m breaststroke as well, but fell just shy of gold. Aoki finished in the splash n’ dash in 31.35, but the winner was Brazil’s Jhennifer Conceicao who earned the top prize in 30.84.
Aoki also took the women’s 200m breaststroke to add more hardware to her loot, finishing in a time of 2:25.01. She’s been as quick as 2:21.85 so far this season and is a threat for Pan Pacific and Asian Games medals.
Ohashi nailed a quick 2:11.65 to win the 200m IM event by almost 3 solid seconds. Ohashi holds the world’s 2nd fastest time in this sprint IM event with the 2:08.92 from the Spring. In the 400m IM here in Chartres, Ohashi registered a solid 4:36.26 for the win, representing the only swimmer under the 4:40 threshold. Ohashi is ranked #1 in the world in the event with her time of 4:30.82 from April’s Japan Swim.
French racer Marie Wattel threw down the 2nd fastest performance of her career in the women’s 100m fly, winning in a quick 58.13. That was enough to hold off Brazil’s Daynara De Paula, who finished in a time of 58.44 for silver. For Wattel, her career’s quickest was the 57.53 registered last year.
The pair also raced together in the 50m fly, but Melanie Henique was too tough to beat, registering a winning effort of 25.88, just off her season-best of 25.63. Wattel settled for silver in 26.27, while De Paula earned 3rd in 26.7
Brazil’s Luiz Altamir Melo took the men’s 200m fly gold in a time of 1:57.19. Melo also won the men’s 200m freestyle on night 2, leading a foursome of 1:48-swimmers. Melo touched in 1:48.26, while teammate Fernando Scheffer was next to the wall in 1:48.42.
Frenchman Mehdy Metella was victorious in the men’s 100m fly, touching in 52.02 for gold. He was already 51.68 this year, so look for him to be a challenger at this summer’s European Championships.
Hungary’s Liliana Szilagyi took the women’s 200m fly in a time of 2:09.24, the only swimmer under 2:12. Szilagyi has already been as fast as 2:08.01 this year, a mark that is positioned as 9th fastest among the world’s best this season.
Brazilian beast Bruno Fratus scored yet another sub-22 second 50m freestyle, this time touching in 21.90 for gold. That was .21 ahead of runner-up Govorov, who nailed a silver medal mark of 22.11, his fastest this season. Japan’s Shinri Shioura rounded out the top 3 in a mark of 22.23.
Additional Winners:
- The men’s 100m freestyle saw Pedro Spajari touch the wall first in 49.02.
- Guilherme Costa from Brazil was the men’s 400m freestyle victor, registering a winning time of 3:51.29.
- The men’s 200m breaststroke saw Giedrius Titenis take gold in a time of 2:12.19. Of note, 4000m IM Olympic champion Kosuke Hagino was also in the race, finishing 4th in 2:16.74. Titenis was also succesful in the 100m breast, clocking 1:00.46.
- Japan finished 1-2 in the women’s 200m back as Anna Konishi got her hand on the wall first in 2:12.46, while Yui Ohashi took runner-up in 2:12.53.
- Paul-Gabriel Bedel of France was night 1’s 100m backstroke winner with a time of 55.19. Etiene Medeiros of Brazil took the women’s 50m backstroke in 27.96, the only sub-28 second time of the field.
- Joao Gomes notched another win for Brazil, finishing first in the 50m breaststroke in 26.94, the only sub-27 second swimmer in the field.
- The men’s 1500m freestyle saw Damien Joly top the podium in a time of 15:07.79.
- France’s Mathilde Cini took the women’s 100m backstroke race in a winning time of 1:01.47.
- Jeremy Stravius was the fastest of the men’s 50m backstroke field, wrangling up the win in 25.21.
- Lyrio won the women’s 400m free in a time of 4:17.61, among a field of just 5 swimmers total in the event.
- Brazilian backstroker Leonardo De Deus won the 200m distance in the only sub-2 minute time of the field – 1:59.97.
Nice to see a 200 back from Ohashi. She has such an easy stroke and could be really good in that event. She’s a pretty sharp flyer, too. It went under the radar, but she was 57.xx in the 100 fly, only second to Ikee at Japan Open this year.
I’ve watched her races on TV and her technique overall is great. She looks so easy in the water. Like most of Japanese swimmers by the way. Not very powerful but great technique.