FFN Golden Tour in Nice: Hosszu 5-for-5 on Podium; Metella, Stravius and Henique Win for France

The French Swimming Federation’s Golden Tour in Nice wrapped up its second day of competition with an astounding five podium visits by Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu in five events. The men’s racing was more evenly distributed; five different swimmers climbed to the top of the men’s podia.

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The evening’s racing began with the 100m back. Hosszu won the women’s race with a 1:00.47, the fourth fastest time in the world so far this year. The Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina was the only one to stay with Hosszu during most of the race, and she wound up in second with 1:01.78. Michelle Coleman of Sweden was third with a time of 1:02.26. France’s top finisher was Pauline Mahieu (1:02.99), who swims for US St-André.

Germany’s Christian Diener, who won the 200 back on Day One, eked out a win in the 100 over CN Marseille’s Benjamin Stasiulis, 55.03 to 55.34. Diener’s efforts landed him a top-10 time so far this year. Sweden’s Simon Sjodin used a nice back half to outpace Eddie Moueddene of Amiens Metropole and win the bronze in 55.94.

After a brief medals ceremony it was back to the blocks for Katinka Hosszu with the 200 breast. She led from start to finish, challenged slightly by Adeline Martin of CN Antibes and Lara Grangeon from CN Calédoniens, but in the end it was all Hosszu. She won in 2:29.00, with Martin (2:31.24) and Grangeon (2:32.85) trailing.

In the men’s race, Sweden’s Erik Persson avenged his second-place finish to Giacomo Perez Dortona from CN Marseille with a 2:14.55 victory in the 200. It was Hungary’s David Verraszto who took it out first, though; he led at the 50 and the 100. Persson had an excellent third 50 and took over with one length to go. Quentin Coton of CN Antibes and Perez Dortona were just behind Verraszto at the 150. Over the course of the last 50 meters, Coton moved to second (2:15.17), Verraszto came in at third (2:15.46), and Perez Dortona was left off the podium with his 2:16.81.

The 50 fly belonged to the Frenchwomen, as five of the top six swim for the tricolor. Mélanie Henique, still representing Amiens Metropole at this meet although she now trains in Marseille, won with 26.42. That puts her second only to Jeanette Ottesen for the year. Olympic Nice’s Marie Wattel clocked a 26.91 for second place, and Hosszu rounded out the podium with 27.15. Nice’s Cloé Hache and Justine Bruno of Beauvaisis came in together with 27.43, just ahead of Nice sprinter Anna Santamans (27.61).

The men’s 50 fly looked like a dual meet between CN Marseille and Ukraine. Top-seeded Mehdy Metella of CNM followed his previous day’s victory in the 100 fly with the fastest 50 fly, but by only 1/100 over Andriy Govorov of Ukraine, 23.82 to 23.83. Frédérick Bousquet went a season-best 24.19 to earn a spot on the podium, proving his rehabilitation from surgery is coming along nicely.

Hosszu jumped off the 50 fly podium and onto the starting blocks for the 200 free. Although seeded fifth after prelims, Hosszu controlled the entire race from out in lane 2, eventually winning in 1:58.32. Coralie Balmy of Mulhouse finished second, with a solid back half, touching in 1:58.75. Nice’s Charlotte Bonnet, who had won the 100 breast on Day One, picked up the bronze in 1:59.62. Hungary’s Evelyn Verraszto, who also swims for Nice, was just behind her teammate in 2:00.14.

Jérémy Stravius, who represents Amiens, was another lane 2 runaway winner. He took it out quickly and had the strongest finish in the field, touching in 1:48.77. France’s Joran Pothain, from Nautic Club, earned silver by edging Mykhaylo Romanchuk of Ukraine, 1:49.36 to 1:49.52.

The final event of the evening was the 400 IM. Sweden’s Stina Gardell took it out with a strong fly and established the early lead. Verraszto made a move during the backstroke and even took over the lead heading into breast. Hosszu, who had been a couple of body lengths behind the leaders, caught Verraszto on the breaststroke and held onto her lead through the finish. She couldn’t make up the distance on Gardell, though, and had to settle for silver. The final results were Gardell (4:44.00), Hosszu (4:48.38), and Verraszto (4:52.07). Morgane Rothon of Dijon was France’s fastest with 4:55.66.

David Verraszto, Evelyn’s brother, won the men’s event in clean water, going 4:17.00 for a world top-5 time. Jeremy Desplanches, a Swiss swimmer who represents Olympic Nice, was nearly 5 seconds back with 4:20.96. Desplanches was a full 5.5 seconds ahead of third-place Sweden’s Sjodin (4:26.50).

The women’s leaderboard, through 10 events, is:

• HOSSZU Katinka 100
• GARDELL Stina 30
• BONNET Charlotte 24
• WATTEL Marie 23
• COLEMAN Michelle 23
• VERRASZTO Evelin 19
• MARTIN Adeline 18
• ZEVINA Daryna 18

The men’s leaderboard consists of:

• VERRASZTO David 28
• DIENER Christian 24
• ROMANCHUK Mykhaylo 24
• PERSSON Erik 24
• METELLA Mehdy 24
• SJODIN Simon 23
• STRAVIUS Jérémy 21
• STASIULIS Benjamin 18

As a reminder, the four stages of the Golden Tour are:

Here are the leaders after Day One of competition in Nice. Feel free to sort it by name, or event number, or however you’d like. The women are on the left; the men, on the right (scroll to see):