French Short Course Championships: Sebastien Rouault, Yannick Agnel Set French Records

CHARTRES, France, December 4. THE world is coming to form shortly before the FINA World Short Course Championships. Tonight, two French records fell at the French Short Course Championships as swimmers continue to down national records set during the techsuit era.

Sebastien Rouault dominated the men's 800 free with a French-record time of 7:39.96. That swim crushed his previous record of 7:45.38 set last year in Turkey, and closed some distance to the European record of 7:31.18 set by Federico Colbertaldo of Italy last year in Manchester. Rouault's time cleared Mads Glaesner's 7:42.17 from yesterday in Denmark as the fastest this year. Xavier Lepretre (7:52.78) and Damien Joly (7:55.05) placed second and third.

Yannick Agnel provided the second French record of the day in the men's 200 free. Agnel crushed his previous record with a scorching time of 1:41.96. That swim smashed his previous best of 1:43.18 set in Stockholm last month. He came up just shy of Danila Izotov's top-ranked time of 1:41.84 from the European Short Course Championships, but is only the second man under 1:42 this year. Gregory Mallet finished second in 1:44.39, while Amaury Leveaux snatched third in 1:45.36. Mallet improved to 11th in the rankings.

Inge Dekker of The Netherlands snagged the women's 50 fly title in 25.40, which surpassed the meet record of 25.56 set by Diane Bui Duyet in 2008. Dekker just missed her second-ranked season best of 25.38 from the European Short Course Championships. Melanie Henique finished second in 25.73 to move into the top 10, while Bui Duyet placed third in 26.31.

Camille Muffat topped the women's 200 free in 1:53.20 to move to second in the world rankings behind Femke Heemskerk's 1:52.42 from the Berlin stop of the World Cup. She just missed Coralie Balmy's French record of 1:53.18 set in 2008. Balmy finished a distant second in 1:56.62, while Charlotte Bonnet took third in 1:56.93.

Aurelie Muller topped the women's 1500 free in 16:17.90 to move to sixth in the world rankings. Coralie Codevelle took second in 16:24.30 for a top 10 time, while Celia Barrot wound up third in 16:33.27.

In a bit of an upset, Ben Stasiulis trumped reigning European Swimmer of the Year Camille Lacourt, 50.79 to 50.98, in the men's 100 back. Stasiulis beat Lacourt's meet record of 50.86 from last year, and moved into a third-place tie in the world rankings. Lacourt finished just back of his fifth-ranked season best of 50.86. Jeremy Stravius rounded out the podium in 51.52.

The Netherlands' Femke Heemskerk won the women's 100 back in 57.98, which cleared the meet record of 57.99 set by Laura Manaudou in 2008. Heemskerk has been faster this year with a seventh-ranked season best of 57.72 from the Berlin stop of the World Cup. Alexianne Castel finished second in 58.94, while Cloe Credeville placed third in 59.33.

Fred Bousquet clinched the men's 50 fly title in 22.85. Amaury Leveaux touched second in 22.94, while Florent Manaudou grabbed third in 23.24. Bousquet and Leveaux both moved into the top 10 with the times, while Manaudou ascended to the top 15.

Sophie De Ronchi edged Coralie Dobral, 2:24.20 to 2:24.55, in the women's 200 breast. De Ronchi moved to 22nd in the rankings with Dobral taking 24th. Fanny Lecluyse of Belgium took third in 2:26.09. Hugues Duboscq captured the men's 200 breast in 2:08.33. William Debourges (2:08.89) and Giacomo Perez Dortona (2:08.96) bracketed him on the podium.

Lara Grangeon earned the women's 400 IM title in 4:37.56. Lecluyse placed second in 4:41.71, while Pauline Menendez touched third in 4:46.24. Tunisia's Taki M'Rabet (4:11.37), Rouault (4:12.20) and Amaud Rondan (4:13.69) comprised the podium for the men's 400 IM.

Day Two Finals Results

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