Maxime Grousset Shaves 0.04 Off French 50 Fly Record As He Continues Short Course Gold Rush
Maxime Grousset took 0.04 off his French 50 fly record as he continued his golden streak with his fourth victory so far at the national short course championships in Val-Parisis.
The world long-course champion touched the wall in 22.02 to go inside the 22.06 mark that propelled him to bronze at the 2023 short-course Europeans in Otopeni, Romania. He was followed home by Youssuf Rammadan of Egypt in 22.36 with Clement Secchi the second Frenchman to touch in 22.39 and Stanislas Huille third (22.66).
With victory, Grousset completed the 50/100 fly double with the 26-year-old also topping the podium in the 100IM and 50 free.
It all adds up to a busy programme for the Olympic medley relay bronze medallist at the European Short Course Championships in Lublin, Poland, in December.
“I’m very happy, I did my best time,” he said through the French Federation. “You can’t be disappointed when you do it, but it’s sure that when you’re at .02, it makes you want to make 21 (secs). It’s always a bit of disappointment, but it’s frankly too cool and positive for this competition. I have a bit of trouble being very, very explosive in the first 25m, I start on the basis of 100m, I do five arm strokes and I do the same thing in my 100m. So I can’t really accelerate more than that. That’s what I’m missing. That first 25m is not great, terrible, but I think I did my second fastest 25m I could do. I didn’t find myself very, very incisive on the turn, even though that’s still one of my strengths now. I tried and in the end, it’s a record in France. There’s going to be some great battles this winter. It’s getting better and better this week, I’m showing it again.”
Jérémie Delbois: Photo Courtesy: French Federation
Jérémie Delbois made the cut in the men’s 100m breaststroke when he won the title in 57.13 as he smashed his PB of 58.42. It earned him his first individual swim at a senior international competition after doing the prelims of the medley relay at the Singapore worlds.
“I had looked at the qualifying times and that was the goal, to do this time,” he said. “I knew I was able to swim 57, but not yet in such a few hundredths, so I’m super happy to do the time. When I’m relaxed, that’s when I usually swim fast. I try to be as relaxed as possible and then it happens.
Once I got the taste for the France team, I wanted to stay there. Plus, it’s my first individual qualifier, so it’s even better. Now we will have to aim even higher: finals and international medals. I learned a lot about managing competitions and big moments this summer.”
Delbois led home two other men on 57s with Antoine Viquerat just 0.02 off the QT in 57.51 and Carl Aitkaci third in 57.66.
Béryl Gastaldello continued her golden streak with victories in the 100m backstroke and 50m freestyle to make it four trips so far to the top of the podium.
She enjoyed a clear victory in the back, clocking 57.28 – albeit outside the cut for Lublin – before becoming the only woman inside 24secs as she completed the 50/100 free double in 23.94. The 30-year-old was followed home by Analia Pigree (24.28) with Melanie Henique and Anastasia Urbaniak sharing third (24.52) but she was the only woman inside the cut.
Roman Fuchs added the 200 free title to his 400 gold in 1:42.08 to add a second event to his Europeans programme while Anastasiya Kirpichnikova headed the fastest heat of the 800 in 8:20.45 for a second swim in Poland following 1500 gold.
