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Gilot's Headache For French Selectors
Apr 16, 2010 - Craig Lord
What a turn up at French nationals and trials in Saint-Raphael! Fabien Gilot, CN Marseille, appealed to selectors with a 48.52 victory in the 100m freestyle final after having missed the necessary semi-final time cut for European Championships in Budapest (see bullet-point selection explanation below). The time matches the second-best in the world so far, by Eamon Sullivan, the Australian who took Olympic silver behind gold for Gaul's Alain Bernard in Beijing.
Under the selection criteria, Bernard, of Antibes, on 49.04 (after 48.32 in the all-important semi), and the third man home in the final, William Meynard, CN Marseille, on 49.18, get the berths in Budapest, while the other swimmer to make the cut in semis, 17-year-old Yannick Agnel, Nice, finished 7th in 49.51. The selection policy dictates a top four finish in the final as well as meeting time cuts in heats and semis.
The rest of a final in which 0.53sec split the last seven men:
Here's the explanation of how the selection policy for solo berths to Budapest works:
In heats, the target time was 49.64.
In semis, the target time was 49.10.
In the final, a top-4 finish was required.
The thrill of such a tight final in domestic waters is undeniable, even if the times on the clock are not remotely as swift as they were a years ago as the 100% poly suits skewed the picture:
This year's range: 48.52, then seven men between 49.04 and 49.57. The suits are making a truly significant impact on the clock, and, as Gilot would have it, to the finishing order of the race too.
French nationals and trials, day 4 race reports
Men's 100m freestyle
Fabien Gilot, Marseilles, tripped up in heats when he missed the prelims time target the morning after making the team for Budapest with his first sub-22sec swim in textile over 50m. In semis, he raced inside target and then tonight won his first national title in 48.52, a cracking effort that made Olympic champion Alain Bernard, second in 49.04, one of two men to make it back to the podium a year on from the poly-pu-the-kettle-on battle of 2009. William Meynard, third in 47.77 a year ago, took bronze again, in 49.18. Then came Bernard's training partner, Boris Steimetz, on 49.29, an effort that gave him 1 point on the 3-point qualification criteria for Budapest: only top-four finishers in the final can be considered for selection. Of the four men locked out in 5th to 8th, Yannick Agnel, 17 and on a nervy 49.51 after a semi of 48.99, qualified for selection in the first two rounds of the contest.
It is not beyond the imagination to think that all eight men in the final will be on call for relay duty in Budapest. But as for the solo event, Bernard and Meynard have absolute right, with Agnel and Gilot the next two in line for duty should Christian Donze, the technical swim director for France, produce a Caeserian thumbs up at some stage during final selection talks.
Bernard told reporters: "At first, I was a bit disappointed to finish second. I felt tired from the start. I lacked a little mental freshness. I put a bit too much pressure on myself." But the fact that he has secured his berth in Budapest meant "relief and contentment ... this really gives me a desire to go on because even if I had a lot of difficulties in the past quarter (season), I am a racer and my body responds to that."
On Gilot's position, Bernard said: "It's a very delicate subject ... Fabien clocked three very good times. What else can you say. It's part of the game. I am sad for Fabien but it is the rule."
In those words, Bernard highlights the problem of allowing Gilot into the Budapest race: two have automatic right to be there, and three have a lesser claim to be there too under the rules. The trouble is Budapest itself. Bernard and Meynard have a right, under French policy, to race for a place in the solo final once in Hungary, but all will be aware that if Gilot is given a ticket too, he may well end up knocking out one of the two Frenchman who booked their place by automatic right. If Bernard, Gilot and Meynard finish top three in qualifying in Budapest, it may be just as hard to justify to Meynard why he cannot race in a final he had a right to be in under the conditions in which he qualified.
All that said, hard to see why France would not wish its best four in the Budapest race when it knows that it has such a wealth of speedy men. Perhaps the thinking dates back to that Lezak moment in Beijing: what France once is not just four world-class men but four warriors toughened to a point where defeat is not an option.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 47.12; 47.25
Women's 200m medley
The podium boasted the same three medallists of 2009, with Camille Muffat, Nice, retaining the crown on 2:10.48, excellent confirmation of what her coach Fabrice Pellerin suspected: the suits didn't give her the kind of advantage that others appeared to have enjoyed. Muffat won the crown in 2:09.37 last year and clocked 2:10.08 at Rome 2009 world championships. In Saint-Raphael, the silver and bronze order was reversed from a year ago, Lara Grangeon, 18 and racing for Caledoniens, on 2:14.20, and Sophie de Ronchi, Massy, on 2:15.23.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 2:10.08
Women's 100m backstroke
Alexianne Castel, Dauphins Toulouse, was a class apart as she raced to a 1:00.66 victory to step up to gold from silver a year ago. Second went to teammate Alexandra Putra, on 1:02.05, with CloéCredeville, Nanterre, third in 1:02.22. The 2009 champion Esther Baron has since retired.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 1:00.63; 1:01.48
Men's 200m breaststroke
His place in Budapest already booked, Hugues Duboscq, Le Havre did what he had to achieve his aim of winning all three breaststroke crowns in Saint-Raphael. The time of 2:12.38 kept Paris-based Brit Kris Gilchrist at bay by 1.14sec, the bronze going to William Debourges, 18 and racing for Cannes, on 2:15.11, that magical time that granted David Wilkie, like Gilchrist a Scot racing for Britain, a sensational Olympic crown back in 1976. The 2009 champion on 2:11.42, Tony de Pellegrini was not in the race, while the bronze medal winner behind Gilchrist last year, Thibault Marand, Massy, finished fifth on 2:16.64.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: 2:09.00 s;
Men's 200m butterfly
After being pressed into bronze a year ago, Christophe Lebon, 27 and racing for Antibes, claimed the crown in 1:58.88 ahead of Portuguese visitor Nuno Quintanilha, on 1:59.20. The bronze went to last year's silver medal winner, Thomas Vilaceca, 19 and racing for Albi, on 1:59.51 ahead of two other men to dip inside 2 minutes. The defending champion Clément Lefert, Nice, withdrew after finishing 7th in heats on 2:00.64.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: DNS
Men's 400m medley
Sébastien Rouault, Mulhouse, added the 400m medley to his 400m free crown with a 4:17.75 effort that toppled defending champion Anthony Pannier, Lyon, on 4:21.61 ahead of a bronze in 4:25.35 for Tunisian Taki M'Rabet, third last year. Last year's silver medal winner, Raoul Shaw, of Frejus, finished 7th this time round in 4:30.77. The rub between the top two this year is this: Rouault was national record holder on 4:16.99 from 2007 until Pannier took the mark by 0.02sec in a shiny suit a year ago. Rouault wants his standard back.
Times in transition (French nationals top 3, 2009, 2010, plus Rome 2009 top 2 for France)
Rome 2009: DNS
Semi-finals
In the women's 100m butterfly, Magali Rousseau, Nice, clocked 59.20 in the first semi, before lane 4 for the final went to Aurore Mongel, defending champion from Mulhouse, on 58.58, ahead of American visitor Kim Vandenberg, on 59.35.
In the women's 200m breaststroke, Fanny Babou, St-Esteve, took the first semi in 2:29.89 before Alena Alekseeva, of Russia, booked lane 4 for the final with a 2:27.77 that kept Coralie Donbral, Massy, at bay on 2:29.81.
