Manaudou on Fire at French National Short Course Championships

By Jason Marsteller

ISTRES, France, December 2. LAURE Manaudou must have called down a storm at the French Short Course National Championships, because she finished the day three-for-three with a trio of golds and a trifecta of national records in what is basically a tune-up meet for her heading into Worlds. Overall, Manaudou has five gold medals and four national records for the meet so far with another day to go.

In sum, five national records went down on the day as Alena Popchanka broke the French standard in the 50 fly and Fabien Gilot popped a national-record time in the 200 free. Three other meet records also fell.

Women's 100 Backstroke
Laure Manaudou opened with a national record in the 100 back. The Swimming World Magazine European Female Swimmer of the Year lowered her own standard by touching in 58.05. That effort slipped by the 58.12 set by Manaudou on Dec. 9, 2005 and shattered her meet-record time of 59.51 set Dec. 3, 2005.

Meanwhile, Esther Baron took silver in 1:00.84, while Alexiane Castel earned bronze in 1:01.17.

Men's 100 Backstroke
Pierre Roger smashed the meet standard in the men's 100 back by hitting the wall in 53.27. That time erased the 54.54 set by Camille Lacourt on Dec. 3, 2005.

In other action, Benjamin Stasiulis earned silver in 53.43, while Lacourt took third in 53.68.

Women's 200 Breaststroke
Elena Bogomazova captured her second breaststroke crown in as many days with a 2:27.53 in the 200 breast. Coralie Dobral placed second in 2:28.62, while Fanny Babou turned in a third-place 2:29.33.

Men's 200 Breaststroke
Hugues Duboscq also doubled in the breaststroke events with a meet-record time of 2:09.63. That performance knocked a half-second off his previous time of 2:10.14 set on Jan. 15, 2005.

Julien Nicolardot touched second in 2:10.15, while Nicolas Miquelestorena snagged bronze in 2:13.13.

Women's 400 IM
Laure Manaudou kept rolling in the 400 IM with another national record, this time stopping the clock in 4:33.73. That clocking obliterated the 4:39.74 set by Cylia Vabre on Dec. 11, 2005. It also destroyed the meet record of 4:41.30 set by Celine Cartiaux on Jan. 15, 2005.

Meanwhile, Camille Muffat finished second in 4:40.14, while Vabre took third in 4:41.54.

Men's 400 IM
Nicolas Rostoucher chopped 2.5 seconds off his meet record with a 4:11.53 to earn gold. That effort eclipsed the 4:14.01 set by Rostoucher on Dec. 3, 2005.

In other action, Pierre Henri finished second in 4:12.91, while Anthony Pannier took third in 4:16.22.

Women's 50 Butterfly
All three medal-winners cleared the meet standard in the sprint butterfly of 26.76 set by Malia Metella on Jan. 15, 2005. Alena Popchanka took home gold in 26.41 with a national-record time of 26.41 to edge the 26.42 she set on Jan. 22, 2006, while Diane Bui Duyet (26.49) and Camille Muffat (26.74) earned second and third, respectively.

Men's 50 Butterfly
Antoine Galavtine touched first for gold in 23.79, while Clement Lefert took second in 24.56, and Mathieu Lacome picked up bronze in 24.66 in the men's sprint fly.

Women's 200 Freestyle
Three up, three down for Laure Manaudou as she collected her third gold medal and national record of the day. The all-around superstar won in 1:54.93 to surpass the 1:55.04 set by Solenne Figues on Dec. 28, 2004. The time also cleared the meet record of 1:56.26 set by Figues on Jan. 15, 2005.

Coralie Balmy took second in 1:56.77, while Aurore Mongel placed third in 1:57.77.

Men's 200 Freestyle
Fabien Gilot closed out an overall fast day with a national record in the men's 200 free. He touched in 1:43.86 for the title, to wipe out the 1:43.90 set by Amaury Leveaux on Dec. 11, 2005. The performance also shattered the meet record of 1:45.87 set by Leveaux on Dec. 3. 2005.

Meanwhile, Leveaux placed second in 1:45.70 to also clear the meet record for second place, while Alain Bernard garnered bronze in 1:46.43.

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