Grousset's 47.50 Marks His 19th Sub-48 100 Free, Fente Damers, On 48.02 For 2nd French Ticket To Worlds
Day 3 at French nationals in Montpellier delivered tickets to the World Championships for Maxime Grousset and teenager Rafael Fente Damers in the 100m free, David Aubry in the 800m free, plus Analia Pigree & Mary-Ambre Moluh in the 50 back
Maxime Grousset sprinted to a 47.50 victory in the 100m freestyle on day 3 at French Championships in Montpellier and will head to World titles in Singapore as the only Frenchman in the national 4x100m free team born in the last Century.
Out in 22.41 and home in 25.09, Grousset, racing for Clichy 92 and coached by Michel Chrétien at the French Performance Centre at Bois de Vincennes east of Paris, had the race sewn up by the turn. On the way to the end wall, he extended his lead by 0.02sec over the man closest to him by the close of battle, Rafael Fente Damers, seven years the 26-year-old champion's junior.
Fente Damers, Dauphins D'Annecy, improved his career best by 0.12sec, 48.02 good for silver and the second French slot in Singapore. The candidates for the 4x100m followed on: Nans Mazellier, Saint-Paul Reunion, 48.21; Ethan Dumesnil, Olympique Nouméa, 48.76, and Yann Le Goff, Rennes, on 49.04.
Taking in all three finals, A to C, France had 18 men inside 50sec in Montpellier today, six of them 20 this year or younger.
On 47.33 at Olympic trials last year, Grousset tops the French all-time textile ranks with the 7th fastest time on the all-suits clock. Today's effort was the third fastest of his career. He has now raced inside 48sec 19 times and holds 17 of the fastest 20 swims by French swimmers in textile, with Fente Damers seventh fastest Frenchman on the all-time ranks in a time faster than any of those ranked higher with shiny suit performances from 2008-09 ever swam in textile.
France All-Time Textile Performances List
- with Rank indicating where the swims sit in the shuffle Wirth shiny suits swims from 2008 and 2009:
| Rank | Time | Name | Nation | City | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 47.33 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Chartres | 18/06/2024 |
| 8 | 47.42 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Fukuoka | 27/07/2023 |
| 10 | 47.50 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Montpellier | 16/06/2025 |
| 11 | 47.52 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Tokyo | 26/07/2021 |
| 12 | 47.54 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Budapest | 21/06/2022 |
| 14 | 47.62 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Rennes | 13/06/2023 |
| 15 | 47.63 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Paris | 30/07/2024 |
| 16 | 47.64 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Budapest | 22/06/2022 |
| 17 | 47.65 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Chartres | 18/06/2024 |
| 17 | 47.65 | Mehdy Metella | FRA | Budapest | 26/07/2017 |
| 19 | 47.69 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Rome | 14/08/2022 |
| 20 | 47.70 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Paris | 30/07/2024 |
| 21 | 47.71 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Paris | 31/07/2024 |
| 22 | 47.72 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Tokyo | 29/07/2021 |
| 25 | 47.78 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Rome | 13/08/2022 |
| 27 | 47.82 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Tokyo | 28/07/2021 |
| 28 | 47.84 | Yannick Agnel | FRA | London | 01/08/2012 |
| 30 | 47.87 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Fukuoka | 26/07/2023 |
| 31 | 47.89 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Chartres | 18/06/2021 |
| 31 | 47.89 | Mehdy Metella | FRA | Budapest | 27/07/2017 |
| 34 | 47.90 | Florent Manaudou | FRA | Chartres | 18/06/2024 |
| 34 | 47.90 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Budapest | 19/05/2021 |
| 37 | 47.97 | Jeremy Stravius | FRA | Montpellier | 01/04/2016 |
| 38 | 47.98 | Florent Manaudou | FRA | Berlin | 22/08/2014 |
| 40 | 47.99 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Chartres | 18/06/2021 |
| 41 | 48.00 | Florent Manaudou | FRA | Marseille | 06/03/2016 |
| 41 | 48.00 | William Meynard | FRA | Shanghai | 28/07/2011 |
| 43 | 48.01 | Clement Mignon | FRA | Montpellier | 01/04/2016 |
| 44 | 48.02 | Yannick Agnel | FRA | Dunkerke | 18/03/2012 |
| 44 | 48.02 | Yannick Agnel | FRA | Dunkerke | 18/03/2012 |
| 44 | 48.02 | Rafael Fente Damers | FRA | Montpellier | 16/06/2025 |
| 47 | 48.03 | Maxime Grousset | FRA | Limoges | 07/04/2022 |
Men's 800m freestyle - the cut: 7.48.66
David Aubry, Montpellier, took the sole automatic ticket to Singapore with a 7:48.41 victory over a 7:49.14 near miss from Marc-Antoine Olivier, Dunkerque Natation, bronze to another Olympian, Damien Joly, Stade de Vanves, 7:51.40.
Women's 50m backstroke - the cut: 27.72
Analia Pigree, Canet, and Mary-Ambre Moluh, Creteil, raced inside the target in respective times of 27.36 and 27.43, the bronze to Pauline Mahieu, the champion's Canet teammate and 100m winner at the meet, in 27.84.
Finals with no solo tickets to Singapore
In the women's 200m butterfly, the cut at 2.08.43, Olympic Nice's Lilou Ressencourt just missed her target, winning in 2:08.81 ahead of Thailand's Kamonchanok Kwanmuang, on 2:09.70. The bronze went to Soizic Gelfmann, Clamart, in 2:11.95.
Léon Marchand, Olympic champion, will be the only French swimmer in the 200 'fly in Singapore, the men's national title won in his absence gone to Clement Secchi, Marseille, in 1:58.14 (the cut set at 1.55.78) ahead of Toulouse' Sandro Henras-Marouf, 1:58.73, and Clamart's Noyan Taylan, 1:59.85.
It was a similar picture in the women's 200m freestyle, the 1.57.26 cut ahead of all, the title to Marina Jehl, Canet, in 1:58.17, a touch ahead of Lucile Tessariol, Dauphines Toulouse, 1:58.39, her teammate Albane Cachot third in 2:00.34. Other candidates for relay action include Giulia Rossi-Bene, Canet, and 400 and 1500 champion this week, Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, Montpellier's Olympic silver medallist in the longest pool race at a home Games last year, on 2:00.70 and 2:00.93 respectively.
