DUNKERQUE, France, March 22. THE French Olympic Trials kept on rolling with the male sprinters putting on a show in the men's 100 free finale in Dunkerque.
FINALS
Men's 200 breast
Cuts: Heats: 2:16.00; Semis: 2:13.11; Finals: 2:11.74
Hugues Duboscq fell victim to the intense qualification procedure France is employing, as he missed the finals cut to qualify for the Olympic roster. Duboscq, who cleared the heats time with a 2:13.25, and semis with a 2:12.45, missed the 2:11.74 with a winning time of 2:13.27. Duboscq had been shooting for his fourth straight Olympics appearance after competing for France in 2000, 2004 and 2008, including a trio of Olympic bronze medals.
Thomas Dahlia placed second in 2:13.83, while Giacomo Perez Dortona finished third in 2:14.54. Thomas Rabeisen (2:15.39), Jeremy Peter (2:15.91), Thibaut Capitaine (2:16.90), William Debourges (2:17.21) and Thibault Marand (2:17.60) earned fourth through eighth.
Women's 200 fly
Cuts: Semis: 2:10.28; Finals: 2:08.95
Lara Grangeon, who already made the squad earlier in the meet on the first day in the 400 IM, missed adding another individual swim with a 2:09.41 to win the distance butterfly event. The touched out Aurore Mongel (2:09.67) en route to the victory, but missed the finals qualifying standard. The pair jumped to 14th and 18th in the world with the times. Lea Giraudon (2:13.35), Elodie Delamare (2:16.37), Magali Rousseau (2:16.63), Margot Pecci (2:17.65), Clotilde Dequaire (2:19.12) and Camille Lavergne De Cerval (2:20.57) completed the championship field.
Men's 100 free
Cuts: Finals: 48.82
Yannick Agnel (48.02) and Fabien Gilot (48.38) secured the two available individual Olympic roster spots in the event, as both cleared the FINA A cut of 48.82. Agnel leapfrogged from seventh in the world to third behind only James Magnussen (47.10) and James Roberts (47.63). Meanwhile, Gilot took fifth in the world behind Matt Targett (48.32).
France stocked its 400 free relay with some strong times as well. Clement Lefert (48.64) and Amaury Leveaux (48.69) also bettered the FINA A cut for third and fourth, while Alain Bernard (48.97) and Gregory Mallet (48.97) tied for fifth. Lefert improved to 12th in the world, while Leveaux took 13th. Fred Bousquet (49.17) and Mehdy Metella (49.25) likely finished on the outside looking in for relay duty.
Men's 800 free
Sebastien Rouault topped the distance free event in 7:52.23, moving to second in the world behind Gregorio Paltrinieri's 7:51.97 from Italy earlier this month. Anthony Pannier took second in 7:54.41, while Damien Joly placed third in 7:54.96.
SEMIFINALS
Women's 100 free
Cuts: Semis: 55.05; Finals: 54.57
No one made the semifinal cut to remain eligible heading into finals. Charlotte Bonnet missed the qualifying standard by the slimmest of margins with a 55.06, while Mylene Lazare finished second in 55.72. Margaux Farrell (55.76) and Margaux Fabre (56.41) remained in play for a 400 free relay spot with third and fourth place finishes. Maria-Elena Letang (56.63), Isabelle Mabboux (56.77), Alizee Merdy (56.80) and Beryl Gastaldello (56.92) rounded out the championship heat.
Men's 200 back
Cuts: Semis: 1:59.77; Finals: 1:58.48
A pair of swimmers made the semifinal cut for the distance backstroke event as Ben Stasiulis (1:57.28) and Eric Ress (1:58.78) both cleared the semifinal mark. Stasiulis jumped to second in the world with his sterling swim, behind only Ryosuke Irie's 1:54.02 from January. Ress moved up to 11th overall with his time, jumping ahead of China's Xu Jiayu (1:58.79). Joris Hustache (2:01.31), Rufino Regueira (2:01.74), Florian Joly (2:02.67), Alexis Cabrol (2:03.06), Eddie Moueddene (2:03.33) and Romain Beraud (2:04.84) will also compete for the championship.
Women's 200 breast
Cuts: Heats: 2:32.00; Semis: 2:28.55; Finals: 2:26.89
No one made the semifinal cut to remain eligible to make the Olympic squad. Coralie Dobral led the way with a 2:28.94, short of the semifinal qualifying mark of 2:28.55. Morocco's Sara El Bekri finished second in 2:29.44, while Claire Polit picked up third in 2:31.50. Fanny Babou (2:32.51), Geraldine Huffner (2:33.24), Adeline Martin (2:33.83), Julia Vendeville (2:33.89) and Adeline Thenot (2:35.11) rounded out the top eight.
Men's 200 IM
Cuts: Heats: 2:04.00; Semis: 2:01.84; Finals: 2:00.17
The semifinal field missed out on being eligible to be picked for the Olympic squad as no one came within a second of the semifinal mark. Ganesh Pedurand (2:03.44) and Romain Landry (2:03.86) placed first and second, while Victor Migeon (2:04.00) and Guillaume Strohmeyer (2:04.02) took third and fourth. Quentin Coton also tied for fourth with a 2:04.02, while Arnaud Rondan (2:05.10), Christophe Soulier (2:05.40) and Gaetan Quirin (2:05.87) earned the rest of the transfer spots into the finale.