ANGERS, France, December 6. THERE was definitely an indication that Matt Jaukovic's world record was in jeopardy during prelims of the French Short Course National Championships, but it wound up being someone different than expected doing it.
In prelims, Fred Bousquet posted a blazing fast time of 22.72 to break his national record of 22.96 set in November. Bousquet was able to surpass that with a 22.63 in finals, but finished third.
Amaury Leveaux, meanwhile, dropped an astonishing time of 22.29 in finals to smash Jaukovic's global standard of 22.50 set during the Sydney stop of the World Cup. Spain's Raphael Munoz provided some extra motivation as he also finished under the old record with a second-place 22.37. Notably, Leveaux also eclipsed the European record of 22.62 set by Johannes Dietrich last month in Essen.