Internationals Dominate on Day 1 of Golden Tour Camille-Muffat Sarcelles

2018 FFN Golden Tour Camille Muffat – Sarcelles

• Friday, March 9 – Sunday, March 11, 2018
• Prelims 8:30am GMT+1 (2:30am EST/11:30pm PST); finals 5pm on Friday (11am EST/8am PST), 4:30pm on Saturday (10:30am EST/7:30am PST), and 3:30pm on Sunday (9:30am EST/6:30am PST)
• Centre Aquatique Christiane et Guy Canzano, Sarcelles
• 50m
• Brochure
• Psych sheet
• Live results

The second stop on the FFN Golden Tour Camille-Muffat, which moved to Sarcelles after Amiens pulled out, opened on Friday with a large international contingent crowding out French swimmers from the A finals. Many of the French National Team swimmers who had been at the Nice stage of the tour are absent from Sarcelles, either competing elsewhere (the Nice team is in Milan) or on a training trip in some exotic land. In past years, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu has not only been a stable presence on the French tour, but she has also swum in every event, winning most of them. Her absence this year has changed the landscape.

Hungary’s David Verraszto, the tour leader on the men’s side with 19 points, won the men’s 800 free (8:08.96) in morning heats (the two non-Olympic distance freestyle events women’s 1500 free and men’s 800 free, are contested in the morning of Day 1, while the Olympic distances –w800 / m1500– open the evening finals session). He then finished second in the 1500 (15:39.82) and won the 400 IM (4:17.96) in quick succession. Day 1 is a brutal day for Verraszto, but he always rises to the occasion. His 800 free time was nearly 1 second faster than in Nice last month, although his 400 IM time suffered with the addition of the 1500 to his program; in Nice he skipped the 1500 and went 4:14.48 to win the 4IM with what remains the #4 performance in the world so far this season.

Jaz Carlin of Wales won the 800 free, as she had in Nice, but this time she was 8.66 faster with 8:37.11, which ranks #21 so far this season. Danish teenager Katrine Bukh Villesen won the 400 IM in 4:51.57, swimming largely uncontested from wire to wire.

In addition to the two distance freestyle races and the 400 IM, Day One of the Golden Tour consists of the finals of the 50 back, 50 breast, and 50 fly. There was much more depth in those finals than in the longer races, and some of them produced quick swims.

All the women’s 50 finals, in fact, were faster than in Nice. France’s Marie Wattel, now training in Loughborough but representing the club team Montpellier, clocked the 10th-fastest 50 fly time in the world, winning her race in 26.16 ahead of Greece’s Anna Ntountounaki (26.70) and Emilie Beckmann of Denmark (26.76). (Marseille’s Mélanie Henique won this event in Nice with 26.57.)

The women’s 50 back was won by Mie Nielsen of Denmark in 28.28, the world’s #12 time of the season. In fact, the top 5 swimmers (Nielsen, Kira Toussaint of NED with 28.50, Greece’s Theodora Drakou with 28.81, Julie Kepp Jensen of DEN with 28.82, and Turkey’s Ekaterina Avramova with 28.94) came in faster than the winner of the Nice stage (Charlotte Bonnet of France with 29.08). The 50 breast title went to Germany’s Anna Elendt in 31.67. France’s Fanny Deberghes’s second-place 31.88 was 4/10 faster than her winning time in Nice.

Jérémy Stravius of Amiens repeated as 50 back champion, although he was off his season-best time of 25.37, winning in 25.42. Stravius had competition, though: Greece’s Georgios Spanoudakis was second in 25.51 and England’s Chris Walker-Hebborn, third, in 25.71. Arno Kamminga of Netherlands won the 50 breast in 27.89, edging Lithuania’s Giedrius Titenis (28.06), who had won this event in Nice. There were no French swimmers in the A final of the men’s 50 breast, although Tunisian 8th-place finisher Talal M’rabet swims for SFO Courbevoie.

Switzerland’s Manuel Leuthard won a close 50 fly final, touching in 24.52 ahead of Noe Ponti (SUI)’s 24.62 and Viktor Bromer (DEN)’s 24.87.

Friday Finals

• Women’s 1500 Meter Freestyle – Marie Kuntzmann (FRA) 17:15.97
• Men’s 800 Meter Freestyle – David Verraszto (HUN) 8:08.96
• Women’s 800 Meter Freestyle – Jaz Carlin (GBR) 8:37.11
• Men’s 1500 Meter Freestyle – Dimitrios Negris (GRE) 15:19.45
• Women’s 400 Meter IM – Katrine Bukh Villesen (DEN) 4:51.57
• Men’s 400 Meter IM – David Verraszto (HUN) 4:17.96
• Women’s 50 Meter Backstroke – Mie-Oe Nielsen (DEN) 28.28
• Men’s 50 Meter Backstroke – Jérémy Stravius (FRA) 25.42
• Women’s 50 Meter Breaststroke – Anna Elendt (GER) 31.67
• Men’s 50 Meter Breaststroke – Arno Kamminga (NED) 27.89
• Women’s 50 Meter Butterfly – Marie Wattel (FRA) 26.16
• Men’s 50 Meter Butterfly – Manuel Leuthard (SUI) 24.52

Prize Money

Sarcelles stage

• 1st – gold medal and 400 €
• 2nd – silver medal and 200 €
• 3rd – bronze medal and 150 €

General rankings

Top 5 after Stage 1

The top 5 women and top 5 men, based on points, after 3 stages of the Golden Tour will earn a total combined purse of 30,000 €. Points will be awarded as follows: 1st in event = 5 points, 2nd in event = 3 points, 3rd in event = 1 point. The Golden Tour bonus prize money will be allocated:

• 7000 € – 1st in total points
• 3500 € – 2nd in total points
• 2000 € – 3rd in total points
• 1500 € – 4th in total points
• 1000 € – 5th in total points