Fred Bousquet secures 50m freestyle title: Day two - French Long Course Nationals
Fred Bousquet won the 50m freestyle event on the second day of the French Long Course Nationals, held in Strasbourg. The championship is a trial basis for the French team’s selection, which will compete at the 2011 Shanghai World Championships in July.
The day started with the Women’s 100m freestyle, where the world 200m freestyle champion, Camille Muffat, showed her stunning abilities in a time of 53.97 seconds. Muffat is the first French swimmer to break the 54.00 seconds mark in a textile suit. She
won the gold medal ahead of Charlotte Bonnet and Mylene Lazare, who secured the second and third spots in a time of 55.34 and 55.76 seconds, respectively.
Next was the Men’s 50m freestyle meet, where Fred Bousquet stunned the arena by winning the title from the 2008 Beijing’s 50m freestyle bronze medallist, Alain Bernard. Bernard was the gold medallist in the 100m freestyle at the last Olympics, whereas, Bousquet
was only a part of the 4*100m freestyle relay team that won a silver medal in the same event. Bousquet defeated Bernard with a difference of 0.16 seconds, as he clocked a time of 21.82 seconds against Bernard’s 21.98 seconds. The bronze medal went to Fabien
Gilot in a time of 22.09 seconds.
In the Women’s 50m breast-stroke, Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen won the gold medal in a time of 31.85 seconds against her 100m breast-stroke rival, Sophie De Ronchi, who touched the wall in 31.92 seconds. They were followed by f***y Babou for the bronze
medal in a time of 31.92 seconds.
In the Men’s 200m breast-stroke category, Beijing’s bronze medallist, Hugues Duboscq, continued his legacy by winning the title of the event in a time of 2:11.99 minutes. William Debourges and Thibault Marand followed him on the podium for the second and
third spots, in an impressive time of 2:14.73 and 2:15.00 minutes, respectively.
The Women’s 200m Individual Medley (IM) was the second last event of the day, where Femke Heemskerk and Lara Grangeon produced a thrilling swim in the arena. Heemskerk won the title with a very slight advantage of 0.01 seconds, clocking a time of 2:13.13
minutes ahead of Grangeon, who touched home in 2:13.14 minutes. Sophie De Ronchi followed them towards the podium for the bronze medal in a time of 2:16.46 minutes.
The last event of the day was the Men’s 400m IM, where Ioannis Drymonakos won the gold medal in 4:16.67 minutes. Ganesh Pedrrand and Quentin Coton followed him on the finishing wall in a time of 4:23.98 and 4:25.08 minutes, respectively.
The day concluded with the addition of more swimmers into the French Swimming Team for the Shanghai Championships.
Tags: