Ponti Clocks 23.33 In 50 Fly, Herlem Hits 1:57.91 200 Back During Day 3 of Giant Series Heats

2024 MEETING NICE – CAMILLE MUFFAT – GIANT SERIES

• Sunday, March 17th – Wednesday, March 20th
• Nice, France
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Finals Recap
• Live Results

The third of four preliminary sessions at the 2024 Nice (Camille Muffat) Giant Series stop featured a total of eight events, with men’s 200 backstroke action kicking things off. France’s Antoine Herlem was the sole individual to dip under 2-minutes, touching in a field-leading effort of 1:57.91. Herlem was been as quick as 1:56.42 in this career, a benchmark that he produced at the 2021 European Championships.

French teammates Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (2:00.21) and Mewen Tomac (2:00.57) also advanced to the final, and both swimmers own times under 1:56. Nyode-Brouard and Tomac have both broken the 1:56-mark before, owning times of 1:55.62 and 1:55.79 respectively.

Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov (2:00.84) is another name to watch closely when the final rolls around, as he’s medaled at the previois two long course World Championship meets in this very event. He snagged bronze in Fukuoka last July before upgrading to silver in Doha about a month ago. His lifetime best and national records was posted in Fukuoka, and currently rests at 1:55.34.

Two swimmers were under the 1-minute mark during the women’s 100 butterfly prelims, with Sweden’s Sara Juvneik (59.33) leading the way ahead of France’s Lilou Ressencourt (59.50). Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey was 1:00.15 to claim the 3rd qualification spot, and she’s coming off a personal best in the 100 free from less than 24 hours ago. It’s important to note that Harvey recently set a new lifetime standard in this 100 fly, posting a 58.12 at the Quebec Cup just last month.

The versatile Canadian star was back in the water about 20 minutes later, securing top seed status in the women’s 200 IM (2:13.56). French teammates Cyrielle Duhamel (2:15.99) and Charlotte Bonnet (2:18.58) are two additional names to watch for. Bonnet was a mainstay on the freestyle scene about a decade ago, but has switched to breaststroker and IM over the past few years.

Harvey didn’t stop there either, as she dove in about another hour later to steal the women’s 200 free show. She turned in an effort of 1:59.49, advancing in 1st place. No other competitors broke 2:00 during prelims.

Antoine Viquerat (1:00.75) of France and Team USA’s Michael Andrew (1:01.50) were the only competitors to swim under 1:02 in the men’s 100 breast heats. 25-year-old Viquerat swam the 200 breast at the Tokyo Olympics, where he placed 12th overall.

Hungary’s David Verraszto (4:27.04) outpaced 200 IM Olympic medalist Jeremy Desplanches (4:27.61) in men’s 400 IM preliminary action. 35-year-old Verraszto has been one of the most consistent 400 IM swimmers in history, as he first medaled on the international scene back in 2010. He claimed two long course World Championship medals throughout his career, a pair of silvers from 2015 and 2017.

Two sprints ended the session, with the men’s 50 fly taking place prior to the women’s 50 breast. Switzerland’s Noe Ponti (23.33) claimed the top seed heading into semifinals, and is coming off a sizzling 51.07 100 fly effort on Sunday. 2023 100 fly World Champion, Maxime Grousset (23.63), situated himself in 2nd while Szebasztian Szabo (23.72) and Michael Andrew (23.87) lurk in 3rd and 4th.

Florine Gaspard (31.17) of Belgium was the women’s 50 breast top qualifier, with Charlotte Bonnet (31.40), Lisa Mamie (31.70), and Jessica Vall (31.94) also breaking 32 seconds.