SAINT RAPHAEL, France, April 17. YANNICK Agnel, just 17 years old, has definitely made a mark on the international scene. Earlier this year, he clocked a world-best effort of 1:46.83 in the men's 200 free during a meet in Nancy in March. That effort came up a bit short of Amaury Leveaux's French record of 1:46.54 set in 2008.
Tonight at the French Long Course Nationals held in Saint Raphael, Agnel finally beat the record with a 1:46.35 during semis. Jeremy Stravius (1:48.27), Clement Lefert (1:48.79) and Ahmed Mathlouthi (1:48.94) qualified well behind Agnel for the finale.
Belarus' Svetlana Khokhlova claimed the women's 50 back title in 29.22 to open the night. Alexianne Castel placed second in 29.39, while Cloe Credeville took third in 29.42. Russia's Alena Alekseeva followed in the women's 200 breast with a victorious time of 2:28.38. Fanny Babou touched second in 2:29.54, while Coralie Dobral pocketed third in 2:30.02.
Kim Vandenberg of the U.S. surfaced triumphant from a near deadheat of three swimmers in the women's 100 fly finale. Vandenberg posted a time of 59.17 for the win, while Aurore Mongel earned second in 59.20. Sophie De Ronchi completed the podium with a third-place 59.22. Mongel had the two fastest times of the meet with a 58.58 during semis and a 59.01 in prelims.
Eric Ress led the way in the men's 200 back semis with a strong time of 1:58.58. That swim moved Ress up to eighth in the world rankings this year. Benjamin Stasiulis was the only other swimmer to clear 2:00 with a 1:59.28.
Venezuela's Albert Subirats paced the men's 100 fly semifinal round with a 52.77 putting him among the top 15 swimmers in the world rankings this year. Francois Heersbrandt (53.49) and Fred Bousquet (53.51) qualified second and third.
Camille Muffat (1:58.31) and Coralie Balmy (1:58.55) set up what should be an interesting finale in the women's 200 free. Meanwhile, Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne (1:59.27) and Margaux Farrell (1:59.96) also cleared 2:00 in the semifinal round.
Results: French Long Course Nationals
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April 17, 2010 My word! I believe this kid is for real. Doing the times he's doing, I would say somethings a coming!!! Submitted by: swimfan3
April 17, 2010 Thorpe-esque / Phelpsian for a teenager. He'll be special, maybe in the 400m as well.by the way, what happened to Biedermann? Has he swum these events yet without a full body rubber suit? Submitted by: outside smoke
April 17, 2010 Biedermann swam at the Britain/Germany Duel in the Pool in February and posted times of 1:47.56 in the 200 (6th in the world) and 3:52.76 (30th in the world) in the 400, and I think he had a sub-49 relay split as well. I expect both Biedermann and Izotov to beat Agnel at Europeans this summer.
As for Agnel, I can't see him going faster in the finals. In both the 400 and the 100, his finals time was nowhere near expected: his 48.99 semis time would have placed second in the final, when he took seventh, even though he will most likely be on the 4x100 free relay anyway. I see that being a prelims team of Leveaux, Agnel, Steimetz, and Bousquet in prelims in Budapest this summer, with the fastest joining Gilot, Bernard, and Meynard in the final.
Speaking of relays, I thought the French had a decent shot to get third (behind Russia and Italy) in the 4x200 this summer at Europeans, but it hurts with Leveaux missing the final; in fact, Leveaux went about two seconds slower than he did in prelims (1:48) and got ninth. They could challenge with Agnel, Leveaux, Lefert (who pulled out of the 100 fly, in which he holds the national record), and I guess Stravius. Submitted by: David Rieder
April 18, 2010 anybody knows when Phelps is going to race again long course or at least 25-m? Submitted by: Max Argie
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