Four medal events featuring French swimmers occupy the second evening schedule at the venue built for the Paris Olympic Games. According to reports from Ouest-France, the morning preliminary sessions delivered immediate international drama, including a European record broken during the very first heats.
Maxime Grousset Tops 50m Butterfly Heats After Injury Layoff
Less than two months after suffering a broken foot, reigning world champion Maxime Grousset posted the fastest time in the 50-meter butterfly preliminaries. He clocked a 22.49 seconds to advance cleanly through the morning session.
“I surprise myself a bit, I didn’t think I’d do that in the heats… There are fewer people than at the Games, but you feel more energy,” Grousset told France Télévisions after exiting the pool. Fellow Frenchman Nikita Baez also secured a spot in the semifinals by posting the 16th-fastest time of the morning.
Marie Wattel and Béryl Gastaldello Advance in 100m Freestyle
In the women’s 100-meter freestyle heats, 2021 European champion Marie Wattel and teammate Béryl Gastaldello safely booked their places among the top 16 qualifiers. Wattel touched the wall in 53.98 seconds, while Gastaldello finished just over the 54-second threshold at 54.03.
The French duo faces a daunting standard set by the Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen. Swimming in the preliminary heats, Steenbergen shattered the European record with a time of 52.62 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 52.67 previously held by Swedish Olympic champion Sarah Sjöström.
Young Talent and Relay Squads Fill Out the Schedule
The morning session also brought a breakthrough for 16-year-old junior European champion Jeanne Lechevalier. Following a sub-par performance from Bertille Cousson in the 200-meter backstroke, Lechevalier stepped up alongside Pauline Mahieu to secure her place in the semifinals under tournament rules limiting nations to two qualifiers per event.
In the men’s 100-meter breaststroke—an event usually dominated by Léon Marchand, who is sitting out the stroke due to injury—Carl Aitkaci advanced to the semifinals with a top-16 finish, marking a significant step forward after missing the world championship qualification threshold last season.
The morning concluded with the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay preliminaries. The quartet of Roman Fuchs, Pierre Largeron, Noé Dutriaux, and Sauveur Cristofini locked down a spot for the evening final, where Marchand is expected to rejoin the squad to bolster the French medal hopes.
Worth a look
