11TH MEDITERRANEAN OPEN (FRA)
- Saturday, March 11th – Sunday, March 12th
- Marseille, France
- LCM (50m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Day 1 Recap
- Entries/Results
Swedish Olympic champion Sarah Sjostrom was back in the water tonight at the Mediterranean Open in France.
After taking the women’s 50m fly last night in a world-leading result of 25.25, Sjostrom raced the women’s 100m freestyle event where she also topped the podium.
Sjostrom got to the wall in a swift mark of 53.55 to lead a trio of sub-54 second swimmers. Behind the Swede was Dutch ace Marrit Steenbergen who produced a time of 53.84 for silver while domestic simmer Beryl Gastaldello rounded out the top 3 in 53.86.
Steenbergen was actually out slightly ahead of Sjostrom, with the former opening in 26.13 to the latter’s 26.26. But Sjostrom gained ground to close in 27.29 and seal the deal for gold. Of note, French athlete Marie Wattel was disqualified in the race.
After dropping out of the Luxembourg Euro Meet due to back pains, this meet marks Sjostrom’s first competition of 2023. And, just like that, the veteran enters the world rankings in the women’s 100m free in slot #4, tying Australia’s Emma McKeon.
2022-2023 LCM Women 100 Free
O'Callaghan
52.08
| 2 | Sarah Sjostrom | SWE | 52.24 | 07/23 |
| 3 | Shayna Jack | AUS | 52.28 | 07/23 |
| 4 | Siobhan Haughey | HGK | 52.49 | 07/28 |
| 5 | Emma McKeon | AUS | 52.52 | 06/17 |
The men’s 50m freestyle event was conducted across 4 rounds with Dutch sprinter Kenzo Simons winding up with the gold when all was said and done.
The 21-year-old finished 2nd in the first round, hitting a time of 22.35 to Hungary’s Szebasztian Szabo‘s 22.19 but took control from that point forward. Simons kept getting faster, punching results of 22.03, 21.97 and finally a time of 21.87.
His results this evening represent his first outings ever under the 22-second barrier in the event. Entering this meet, Simons’ personal best rested at the 22.02 logged at the 2020 Rotterdam Qualification Meet.
Kenzo now ranks as the 3rd fastest man ever from the Netherlands.
Top 5 Dutch Performers All-Time in LCM 50 Free
- Thom de Boer, 21.58 2021
- Jesse Puts, 21.82 2016
- Kenzo Simons, 21.87 2023
- Nyls Korstanje, 21.98 2020
- Pieter Van den Hoogenband, 22.03 2000
Simons now ties American Michael Andrew as the top swimmer in the world right now.
2022-2023 LCM Men 50 Free
McEvoy
21.06
| 2 | Ryan Held | USA | 21.50 | 07/01 |
| 3 | Florent Manaudou | FRA | 21.56 | 06/15 |
| 4 | Jack Alexy | USA | 21.57 | 07/29 |
| 5 | Benjamin Proud | GBR | 21.58 | 07/29 |
Also in the medal mix on the evening was two-time Olympic silver medalist Arno Kammiga of the Netherlands.
27-year-old Kamminga was the decisive winner of tonight’s 200m breaststroke, delivering a speedy in-season result of 2:09.47. Kamminga opened in 1:01.82 and closed in 1:07.65 to continue his rebound from a rocky 2022 which was plagued with illness.
Kamminga now ranks 5th in the world this season.
2022-2023 LCM Men 200 Breast
Haiyang
WR 2:05.48
| 2 | Zac Stubblety-Cook | AUS | 2:06.40 | 07/28 |
| 3 | Leon Marchand | FRA | 2:06.59 | 06/11 |
| 4 | Kirill Prigoda | RUS | 2:07.47 | 04/19 |
| 5 | IPPEI WATANABE | JPN | 2:07.55 | 06/03 |
Additional Winners
- Greek swimmer Apostolos Christou topped the men’s 100m back podium in a time of 53.72.
- The women’s 50m back saw Analia Pigree succeed through the rounds, ultimately claiming gold in a final round time of 27.65.
- The men’s 800m free was taken by Logan Fontaine of the host nation, clocking 7:52.75, just off his personal best of 7:52.31 from last year’s French Championships.
- Lilou Ressencourt was tonight’s 200m fly victor for the women, touching in 2:10.74.