French Olympic Trials: Amaury Leveaux Scares Alain Bernard’s Euro Record in Semis; Malia Metella Joins 53 Club; Fred Bousquet Breaks National Record

DUNKIRK, France, April 25. THE French sprinters are quickly becoming the newest hot topic in the swimming world, as evidenced by another remarkable day in the water at the French Olympic Trials. With the men moving up the ladder, Malia Metella became the first Frenchwoman under 54 in the 100 free. Fred Bousquet then closed the show with a national record in the men's 100 fly semis.

Amaury Leveaux, already the only man in history to have a sub-21.9 in the 50 free along with a sub-1:47 in the 200 free, nearly caught his countryman Alain Bernard in the men's 50 free during semis.

Leveaux clocked a blistering time of 21.53 to finish just off Bernard's European record of 21.50 to become the third fastest man in history behind Eamon Sullivan (21.28) and Bernard.

The performance cleared Bernard's short-lived meet record of 21.67 from the first semifinal round, which eclipsed his own meet record of 21.76 from 2006.

Amazingly, Bousquet's second-seeded time of 21.60 from the second semifinal round was almost overshadowed by the power of Leveaux's swim. Bousquet clocked a time of 21.60 to become the fourth fastest ever.

All four men have now cleared Alexander Popov's former world record of 21.64 from 2000.

The women's 200 breast followed as Sophie De Ronchi won the event in 2:28.20 to just clip the Olympic cut, while Russia's Elena Bogomazova finished second in 2:30.02.

Pierre Roger returned in the men's 200 back finals with a meet-record time of 1:58.42, beating Simon Dufour's 2002 record of 1:58.89. Dufour, however, probably did not mind much as he beat out Benjamin Stasiulis, 1:59.52 to 1:59.57, for the second spot on the Olympic roster as both beat the Olympic standard.

After scratching the 800 free to focus on the 200 back, Laure Manaudou just missed breaking her national record in the event with a time of 2:08.01. The time broke the meet record of 2:09.75 set by Alexiane Castel during prelims, which broke Esther Baron's 2006 record. Manaudou's national record of 2:07.99 from last month will be up for grabs during finals.

Christophe Soulier picked off Fabien Horth in the men's 200 IM, 2:02.37 to 2:02.69, for the title, but both missed the Olympic cut.

Metella, who had already set the national record during semis with a smoking fast time of 54.27, pipped the 54-second barrier with a national standard time of 53.99. She moved the 53 club up to 11:

Libby Trickett, Australia – 52.88
Britta Steffen, Germany – 53.20
Natalie Coughlin, U.S. – 53.40
Jodie Henry, Australia – 53.52
Amanda Weir, U.S. – 53.58
Marleen Veldhuis, Netherlands – 53.67
Inge Dekker, Netherlands – 53.77
Inge de Bruijn, Netherlands – 53.77
Cate Campbell, Australia – 53.81
Alice Mills, Australia – 53.96
Malia Metella, France – 53.99

Alena Popchanka finished second in 54.49, while Celine Couderc (54.62) and Hanna Shcherba Lorgeril (55.24) rounded out the top four.

The final event of the day featured Bousquet crashing through the 52-second barrier in the men's 100 fly during the semifinal round. Bousquet clocked a time of 51.83 to crush his previous record of 52.29 from earlier this month. That time moved Bousquet up to eighth all time in the event. Christophe Lebon was the second seed with a time of 53.38, while Antoine Galavtine took third in 53.92.

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