Maxime Grousset got the last session of finals at the French Championships off to a firecracker of a start in Montpellier by soaring to the top of the 2025 World rankings with a 50.11 national record in the 100m butterfly.

Champion this week in the 50 and 100m free, the 50 and now the 100m butterfly, Grousset was almost a second ahead of his closest rival, Clement Secchi, the CN Marseille sprinter whose 51.06 for silver swept him inside the target time for Singapore World Championships next month, 51.67. Bronze was there too, Secchi's teammate Michel Arkhangelsky third in 51.24 but no ticket to the showcase, at least not this time round: he turns 20 this year, so plenty of chances ahead.

Switzerland's Noe Ponti, 50.27, and Canada's Ilya Kharun, 50.37, had led the global rankings so far this year.

As an all-time top 5 and 10-er, Grousset was a class apart in the Montpellier final as he sped to a victory that took down his own 50.14 French record set at the Fukuoka 2023 World titles, where he lifted the 100 'fly crown. Racing for Clichy 92 and coached by Michel Chrétien at the French Performance Centre at Bois de Vincennes east of Paris, the champion anew was out in 23.32, home in 26.79, for a sum that leaves him fourth fastest all-time in textile and sixth all-time, all suits:

Textile:

All Suits

In other finals...

In the women's 400IM, the cut at 4.38.53, Cyrielle Duhamel, Stade Béthune Pélican, had reach on her side as she stopped the clocked 0.15sec inside target for the title in 4:38.38 as sole qualifier for Singapore World titles.

The podium was completed by Thailand's Kamonchanok Kwanmuang, 4:45.00, and Camille Tissandie, Canet, 66, 4:47.20.

There was good news, too, in the women's 50m freestyle as Montpellier's Béryl Gastaldello delighted the home crowd with a 24.49 victory at the helm of a podium inside the 24.70 cut, but that only relevant to third home: Belgium's Florine Gaspard clocked 24.56 for second, ahead of Canet 66's Analia Pigree, 24.64.

There were no tickets in the two other finals in the curtain-closing session. The men's 50 back cut set at 24.61, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, the Dauphins D'Annecy ace who is already on the team for the 100 and 200m back, just 0.01sec shy on 24.62 ahead of Lysander Osman, ASPTT Montpellier, 24.75, and Caen's Mewen Tomac, 25.13.

The last final of the meet already had one qualifier, Olympic champion Léon Marchand. The cut at 4.12.50, there was no other. The national title went to Emilien Mattinet Charleville-Mézières, in 4:15.02.

• RESULTS IN FULL
• The French team list will follow the official announcement. The FFN issued the following Singapore 2025 team Photo, by KMSP / Lionel Hahn, for the federation:

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