French swimmers break records at Swimming Championship in France
April 25, 2008
French swimmers Malia Metella and Frédérick Bousquet set new records, while Olympic champ Laure Manaudou of France falters.
In Dunkirk, France, French swimmers secured their places for the upcoming Beijing Olympics as they beat swimming records in the next-to-last day of the French swimming championships. Malia Metella beat her own record time in the 100 meters freestyle by 28 hundredths of a second. Metella set the bar at 53 and 99 hundredths of a second, France’s new record. Another beaten record came in the 100m butterfly with Frédérick Bousquet’s 51 seconds and 83 hundredths. The rest of the day saw the victories for French swimmers Christophe Soulier in the 200 meter medley who swam his race in 2 minutes 2 seconds and 37 hundredths and a win for Frenchman Pierre Roger in the 200 meter backstroke in 1 minute 58 seconds and 42 hundredths. Sophie de Ronchi also won the 200 meter breaststroke in 2 minutes, 28 seconds and 20 hundredths of a second.
However, Olympic and world champion Laure Manaudou had to struggle to earn her Olympic berth in the 400 meters freestyle. Manaudou came in third, marking her first defeat in a major championship since 2004. Her time of 4:06.57 was far outside the world record of 4:02.13 Manadou herself set on Aug.6 2006 and held until last month when she was unseated by Federica Pellegrini of Italy at the European swimming championship. Manadou, upset, also withdrew from the 200 meters freestyle race. Her coach cited psychological issues stemming from Manadou’s tumultuous love life and recent publication on the internet of nude photos of the French swimming star. France has been pinning its hopes on Manadou for at least one gold medal in swimming for France in the upcoming Olympic games.
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