Grousset split 23.14\/24.75 to comfortably go inside the qualification mark of 48.57 leading home four sub-49s in Charles Rihoux<\/strong> (48.81), Clement Mignon<\/strong> (48.89), Mehdy Metella<\/strong> (48.93) and Julien Berol<\/strong> (48.94).<\/p>\n

Florent Manaudou<\/strong> went 48.58 in the prelims but scratched the final.<\/p>\n

It was a PB for Grousset who had gone 47.90 for fifth at the European Championships in Budapest, 0.16 off Andrei Minakov<\/strong> in third and elevated him to seventh French all-time, led by Alain Bernard<\/strong> and his 46.94 from the shiny-suit era of 2009.<\/p>\n

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Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n
He said:<\/p>\n
“In any case, it’s done, I’m qualified for the Olympics! I didn’t like to say or hear that the selection would be a formality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
“As long as I hadn’t set the stopwatch, nothing was done. But there it is: <\/span>I am relieved and super happy!”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The 22-year-old had swum 47.99 in the heats before his finals time, his objective to always swim a 47.<\/p>\n
“We will say that it is my average level when I am in good shape.<\/span><\/p>\n
“I would like to reach it all the time to pass levels and continue to descend at each international event.”<\/span><\/p>\n
He will also compete in the 4×1 freestyle in Tokyo and outlined his ambitions for the Games, saying:<\/p>\n
“The same as usual for the French 4x100m: to qualify for the final and get a medal. <\/span><\/p>\n
“As they say in the middle: when you have a line in the final, you have a chance.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And of the individual?<\/p>\n
“I competed in the European Championships in Budapest last May, where the level was super dense and high. <\/span><\/p>\n
“The Games will still be a cut above, but that doesn’t scare me. <\/span>I’ll have to raise my level, but I think the semi-finals are achievable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
“For the final, we’ll see. <\/span>What is certain is that you will have to swim faster.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
PB For Visquerat En-Route To Tokyo<\/h3>\n
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Antoine Viquerat: Photo Courtesy: KMSP\/St\u00e9phane Kempinaire<\/p><\/div>\n
Viquerat set a best of 2:10.21 to go 0.14 inside the cut and seal his place on the team ahead of Jeremy Desplanches<\/strong> (2:13.07) and Antoine Marc<\/strong> (2:13.51).<\/p>\n
With a mixture of joy and disbelief, he told ffnatation.fr:<\/p>\n
“To be honest, I had a hard time believing it – especially since I had a lot of pain in the last 50 metres.<\/p>\n
“Hearing the TOEC Dolphins swimmers screaming, I thought it had to be okay. And then, I see the time and I understand that I did it!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
His achievement was all the greater given he hadn’t felt happy with his heat swim of 2:13.89 but now he was able to look forward to Tokyo, saying:<\/p>\n
“I’ve been at TOEC for five years, I’ve been working very hard for it for five years.<\/p>\n
“It was my goal when I came to this club so there is a form of accomplishment.<\/p>\n
“I am also thinking of INSA, my engineering school in Toulouse, which allows me to study while continuing to swim.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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Analia Pigree: Photo Courtesy: KMSP\/St\u00e9phane Kempinaire<\/p><\/div>\n
Pigree lowered Beryl Gastaldello<\/strong>‘s 2018 record of 27.86 to 27.81 before returning in the evening to trim a further 0.22secs in a time of 27.59.<\/p>\n
Behind her\u00a0Mary-Ambre Moluh<\/strong> set an age group mark of 27.76 in second.<\/p>\n
Pigree said:<\/p>\n
“I did not expect that. It’s always difficult to get into the race in the morning.<\/p>\n
“To go under 28 seconds, set my best time and beat the French record for the event, that’s huge! I congratulate Mary-Ambre (Moluh) too.<\/p>\n
“She is from 2005 and she achieves a superb performance.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Mewen Tomac<\/strong>, fresh from qualifying for Tokyo in the 100 back, sped to the men’s 50 title in 24.87.<\/p>\n
Yohann Ndoye Brouard<\/strong> (25.10), one place and 0.01 ahead of Jeremy Stravius<\/strong> in 25.11.<\/p>\n
Lara Grangeon-de Villele<\/strong> won the women’s 200 fly in 2:11.16 – some way outside the cut of 2:08.43.<\/p>\n
Lucie Delmas<\/strong>, born in 2005, set an age group record of 2:11.57 in second with Lilou Resencourt<\/strong> rounding out the podium (2:12.46).<\/p>\n
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