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Bousquet Blasts 21.71 Best In 50 Free
Apr 14, 2010 - Craig Lord
Not quite the 20.94 of the shiny suits era, nor indeed as fast as Alex Popov's 21.64 textile world record that lasted from 2000 until 2008, but a 21.71 win for Fred Bousquet in a thrilling 50m free final at French nationals and trials in St Raphael tonight is truly world-class. The time is the Frenchman's lifetime best in the suit of the moment and indeed in any suit that pre-dated the February 2008 launch of booster apparel banned since January 1.
In his wake and on the way to Budapest for the European Championships in August is a formidable sprint force, with Fabien Gilot on 21.97, Alain Bernard on 22.08 and Amaury Leveaux on 22.11. Bousquet's textile best had been a 21.99 from 2006. For Gilot the race marked his first textile sub-22sec swim, great news for a man who was just 0.32sec away from his best ever (compared to 0.77sec for the champion) and managed to get just 0.5sec faster than his textile best when racing in poly last year, that gap comparing favourably with some bigger gains elsewhere - the difference cutting to the heart of the problem with the plastic fantastic: not all gained to the same extent.
That debate was done on January 1 and great swimming, slower as it may be, of the kind witnessed at Saint-Raphael today in that 50m final can be celebrated once more ... but the season must out, it seems, before the scars of a divisive chapter in swimming history will start to heal properly, even within the realms of swimmer Vs swimmer.
Here's what the four heading to Budapest had to say post-race:
Frédérick Bousquet: "I am really great happy. It was a high-class final of the kind we are becoming used to in France. It is my best time without the suits (shiny) and this constitutes the second performance of all time behind Popov [3rd in fact, behind Roland Schoeman's 21.69]. To be just 0.07sec away from him at this stage in the season augurs well ... I will need to confirm [his worth] at the European championships." On the 100m, he said: "It will be boiling. We face the passion ('madness') of a young man called Yannick Agnel. My shoulders are loosening. What will be will be in the 100m."
Fabien Gilot: "It's good to get under 22sec in shorts. The race had a steely edge. I'm going to make my presence felt in the 50m from now on. I haven't focussed on it in the past. Its promising for the 100m, I'm gaining speed. My sprinting is reaching maturity. The return to shorts is a good thing for me. I have got back the pleasure of swimming. These past two-three years, I had the impression that I was defeated by certain swimmers who were more helped than me by certain apparel."
Alain Bernard: "It was over in a flash ... I got a medal and selection. It looks good for the 100m if I approach things in the same way. The competition is there and it's not by chance that France [in sprint] is one of the best nations of the world, with or without suits."
Amaury Leveaux: "I raced. I raced well. I came to qualify. That's done and it looks good for the 100m [Friday final]. I've worked hard."
In the first final of the session, Sébastien Rouault added the 1,500m free crown to his victory in the 400m yesterday; Camille Lacourt, of CN Marseille, cracked out a best time of 53.29 to claim the 100m backstroke crown 0.93sec ahead of defending champion Jérémy Stravius; Hugues Duboscq retains status as French breaststroke ace with 1:00.95 win in 100m; Alexianne Castel, of Toulouse, retained the 200m back crown in 2:09.17.
Men's 1500m freestyle
Sébastien Rouault, who switched from CNO St-Germanin-en-Laye to coach Lionel Horter in Mulhouse in the past year, challenged the pace of his French record (14:55.73) on the way to claiming the national 1,500m free crown in 15:04.87 at French nationals at trials in St Raphael. That booked him a place in the race at the European titles in Budapest this August and marked a jump from third place last year, when Anthony Pannier finished second. It was silver again for Pannier this time round, with 15:15.78. The bronze went to Xavier Lepretre in 15:22.54.
The podium order was the order throughout the race, with Rouault clocking consistent splits of 1min-point throughout until the 1,200m mark, when his pace dropped as he struggled to get through the pain. But with the title in sight, the 23-year-old pressed home with a 58.38sec homecoming 100m.
The 2009 title went to Nicholas Roustoucher in 14:57.42, with Pannier on 15:06.14 and Rouault third, on 15:16.79.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 15:16.49 p
Men's 100m backstroke
Camille Lacourt, of CN Marseille, cracked out a best time of 53.29 to claim the 100m backstroke crown 0.93sec ahead of defending champion Jérémy Stravius, of Amiens. The bronze went to Eric Ress, a 19-year-old from Antibes who kept two experienced internationals at bay on 54.62. Benjamin Stasiulis and Pierre Roger followed in 55.10 and 55.27.
Lacourt had given warning with a heats time of 53.35, inside his 2009 best of 53.57 and bucking the trend of slower times this year under new suit rules beyond the ban on apparel that boosted performance significantly and served some better than others.
Stravius won the 2009 shiny suits crown in 53.16, which remains the French record. Stasiulis took second and Pierre Roger third on that ocassion.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 53.82 s; 53.67 p; 54.18 p
Men's 100m breaststroke
Hugues Duboscq, of CN Le Havre, clung majestically to his status as France's premier breaststroke ace, with a 1:00.95 victory. Closest to the Olympic medallist was Paris-based British visitor Kris Gilchrist, on 1:01.44. The bronze went to Giacomo Perez Dortona, in 1:02.00. The race sealed Duboscq's ticket to Budapest in August.
Duboscq said: "I'm satisfied. I got my ticket to the European championships. I know what I am going to do this summer. I had three good 100m in Saint-Raphael, with a strong prelims effort. Now, I need to get ready for 200m (Thursday). I can't rest yet: my target of retaining all three crowns has not yet been achieved."
In 2009, Duboscq clocked 58.64 to miss gold by 0.06sec behind Aussie Brenton Rickard at the shiny suit world champs in Rome, after having also finished runner up at his nationals, in 1:01.26, the 2009 champion Henrique Barbosa, the Brazilian then based in Paris, on 1:00.24, with Tony de Pellegrini, absent this year, on 1:01.29.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 58.64
Men's 50m freestyle
Two weeks after the birth of his daughter Manon to laure Manaudou, Frédérick Bousquet claimed the 50m free crown in 21.71sec. Not quite the booming 20.94 of the shiny suit era, nor indeed as fast as Alex Popov's stunning 21.64 textile world record but truly world-class and the Frenchman's lifetime best in the suit os the moment and in any suit that pre-dated the February 2008 launch of booster apparel banned since January 1.
Next to Bousquet at the Euro titles in Budapest in August will be a formidable sprint force: Marseilles teammate Fabien Gilot on 21.97, Alain Bernard, Olympic 100m champion on 22.08, and Amaury Leveaux, world s/c record holder on 22.11.
Bousquet's time is the best in the world this year for the Marseilles man who spends some of his time at Auburn with coach Brett Hawke alonsgide Olympic and world champion Cesar Cielo. Maxime Cornillier is the coach on the deck when Bousquet is home in France, as he has been for a while now while awaiting good news on the dad front.
Bousquet made his breakthrough on sprint in 2003 with a 22.47 effort when 22. The following years he clocked 22.24 in prelims at the Olympic Games in Athens. In the semis, he swam 22.29 for 12th place overall in a semi that saw Roland Schoeman (RSA) crack 22, on 21.99, just ahead of one of the Frenchman's current coaches, Hawke (AUS), on 22.07.
The 2009 shiny suits final was won by Bousquet in 20.94, with Bernard, on 21.23, Leveaux on 21.59 and Gilot on 21.65.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 21.21; 21.25
Women's 200m backstroke
Alexianne Castel, of Toulouse, retained the crown in 2:09.17 ahead of teammate Alexandra Putra, on 2:11.78, with bronze going to Cloé Credeville, of Nanterre, on 2:13.21. Castel claimed the 2009 crown in 2:07.55, when Credeville finished secomd also inside 2:10.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 2:08.96 p; 2:08.77 s; 2:08.13 f; 2:15.36 p
Semi-finals
In the women's 100m free, Hanna Shcherba clocked 56.09 to lead the first eight, before Gabriella Fagundez (SWE) claimed lane 4 for the final in 55.84, with lane 5 going to Angéla Tavernier in 56.01.
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