Defending Olympic Champion Florent Manaudou Blasts 21.42 in 50 Free in France

Photo Courtesy: Speedo

Florent Manaudou posted a top-ranked time of 21.42 in the men’s 50-meter free at the 2016 French Open Championships.

That means the defending Olympic champion in the event will go to the 2016 Rio Olympics for France in the event. Defending Olympic champions have not been having a great time of it so far during the Trials process with Yannick Agnel and Ye Shiwen two of the most notable misses.

Fred Bousquet finished second in 22.09 to move up to eighth in the world, while Clement Mignon took third in 22.22.

Jeremy Stravius clinched another European Championships swim with a 51.66 in the men’s 100-meter fly at the 2016 French Open Championships.

That swim shot him to third in the world behind only Konrad Czerniak (51.31) and Laszlo Cseh (51.40). Stravius already won the 100 free (47.97) and 200 free (1:46.18) earlier this week.

Mehdy Metella claimed a spot on the European Championships roster in the event, according to the FFN, with a second-place 51.84. That swim put him fourth in the world behind Stravius. Michael Phelps (51.94) and Li Zhuhao (51.97) are the only other swimmers under 52 seconds. Joeri Verlinden placed third in 52.57.

Camille Gheorghiu raced her way to a spot on the French European Championships team in the women’s 200-meter back with a 2:12.14. The French Swimming Federation confirmed the berth on Twitter shortly after the race. Fantine Lesaffre placed second in 2:14.01 with Pauline Mahieu earning third in 2:14.97.

Charlotte Bonnet raced her way to another Montpellier berth with a 53.93 in the women’s 100-meter free. That swim pushed her up to ninth in the world rankings, and cleared France’s selection requirements according to the FFN’s Twitter account.

Beryl Gastaldello also earned a European spot with a 54.10 for second in the women’s 100-meter free. Mathilde Cini (54.454) and Anna Santamans (55.11) placed third and fourth.

Fanny Deberghes topped the women’s 50-meter breast in 31.97, while Adeline Williams (32.23) and Solene Gallego (32.45) picked up second and third.

Giacomo Perez Dortona hit the wall in 27.78 to win the men’s 50-meter breast. Thomas Dahlia (28.30) and Thibaut Capitaine (28.44) rounded out the top three.

France will announce its full Olympic roster following the meet, since it has multiple levels of selection requirements above and beyond just the FINA A cut standards.

More to come.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

Name*

Email*

15 Comments

Oldest

Newest Most Voted

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Niles Keeran

8 years ago

That’s fine and dandy…but Florent must remember Jason Lezak in 2008…and you’ll meet up with Caleb Dressel in Rio.. your 21.42 will be also meaningless time at 2nd place.

Eric Wan

8 years ago

Reply to Niles Keeran

WTF is Jason lezak doing? no one in usa can swim as fast as Manaudou in the 50 free

Niles Keeran

8 years ago

Reply to Niles Keeran

Reallly..we’ll see in Rio…

Davide Savegnago

8 years ago

Luca Ghiraldi trimone!

Berry Schipper

8 years ago

Still not fast enough to make the French QT

Célia ML

8 years ago

Reply to Berry Schipper

Berry Schipper

8 years ago

Reply to Berry Schipper

The French QTs are insane

flutterby

8 years ago

Why do France and the UK have their own time standards? Just send the two fastest swimmers. Is there anything hard about that?

Author

Jason Marsteller

8 years ago

Reply to flutterby

Not all nations want to foot the bill for someone who is not a medal contender. So, they put in stricter standards to only send the people who have a shot at medaling, or at least making a final.

Cindi Dayton

8 years ago

wow. what a bunch of bitter, jealous comments, even for swimmers. well I think it’s a spectacular time and Congrats to Manaudou. And honestly guys, no one likes pettiness in their comments. if you can’t be happy for someone’s achievement, best you be silent.