The Vortex - March 2026: Grousset Grabs Another Win Over Ponti As Giant Open Looms On Paris Horizon
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The Lausanne Cup came to a close this evening with another display of speed from French sprint ace Maxime Grousset in a 100 'fly tussle with the host nation's Noè Ponti that ended 51.15 to 51.47 in favour of the visitor.
There was also 47.90 in the 100m free from Arizona State's Patrick Sammon, racing for the New York Athletic Club, his winning time within half a second of his career high 47.47 from last year, while Mary Sophie Harvey, of Canada, pipped French opponent Marie Wattel 58.21 to 58.26 in the 100 'fly, before Wattel was back in the fray in the curtain-closing 100 free finals for her own win in 54.30.
Grousset, racing for the Paris Performance centre and his club Clichy 92, was out in 23.64, home in 27.51, Ponti shadowing him throughout on 23.91 and 27.56, third place to Clement Sechi in 52.25.
Harvey, a series of wins stretching from 'fly to middle-distance free and medley in the bag, trailed Wattel to half-way 27.54 adrift 27.07, before a 30.67 home comer swept her past the Frenchwoman and her 31.19. Turin's Anita Gastaldi took third in 58.94.
In the 100 free final, Wattel shadowed Belgium's Florine Gaspard 26.05 adrift 25.77 at the turn before a 28.12 got the better of the half-way pace-setter and her 28.63 to home. Sofia Asted took third in 54.99.
Sammon, 22, made a big breakthrough last year when he raced inside 48 for the first time. Now he's doing it in March on a train-and-race venture in Switzerland, his win coming off a speedy 22.80 at the turn, and a 25.10 back to block ahead of fellow American and training partner at Arizona State Grant House, on 48.49 (23.65, 24.84). Third place went to Balint Ashton, of Basel, in 49.61.
The women's 200m breaststroke witnessed a solid 2:23.90 and dominant win from Lisa Angliolini, racing for Virtus Buonconvento ssd. Three 2:27s followed, from fellow Italian and 100m winner Anna Pirovino, East Swiss Team member Kay-Lyn Loehr and multi-venter Harvey.
Italian World champion Thomas Ceccon clocked 24.95 at the helm of the 50m back, 0.03sec ahead of Belgium's Noah Verreth, with Israel's Tomer Shuster just 0.02sec away, his teammate Mihael Leytrovskiy next home in 25.37.
Other winners included Pauline Mahieu (FRA), on 27.90 in the 50m backstroke, and Tommaso Griffante (ITA), on 15:14.30 in the 1500m free.
Giant Open in Paris
Meanwhile, Grousset, Wattel, Mahieu and many other French national teamsters, as well as Harvey and others who competed in Lausanne over the past three days will now head to the Giant Open in Paris next weekend for he meet on March 20-22.
They'll be going in battle by Brits Duncan Scott, Tom Dean, Adam Peaty and others warming up at the Edinburgh International this weekend, Britain teammate Freya Anderson, Dutch ace Marritt Steenbergen and a cast of other swim stars, while a Greek team will include Apostolos Christou.
Also in the March Vortex:
- Freya Colbert Takes British 200 Free Record Below 1:55 In Edinburgh
- Filip Nowacki At The Double; Peaty Fourth In First Race Since Paris 2024 Silver
- Maxime Grousset Growls - 22.78 50 'fly in Lausanne
- Angharad Evans Scares Her Own British Record At Edinburgh International
- Florine Gaspard & Mary-Sophie Harvey At The Double In Lausanne
- Target Practice For A Summer Of Divided Speed
- Speed Unending From McKeown As Perkins Hauls Four Golds at the NSW Championships in Sydney
- Tuning Up In Westmont: Gretchen Walsh, Summer McIntosh, Katie Ledecky, Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Sam Short, Léon Marchand, Carson Foster, Chris Guiliano were among those on the crest of the big-wave surfers starting their steady tune-up a the Swim Pro Series - Westmont
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