Adam Peaty Impressive in Winning 50 Breast at FFN Golden Tour
Olympic champion Adam Peaty posted an impressive 27.25 in the men’s 50 breaststroke on Friday at the FFN Golden Tour stop in Marseille.
Peaty won the final by .26 seconds, up on Simone Cerasuolo. Melvin Imoudu of Germany was third.
Peaty is entered in the 200 breast Friday and the 100 breast Saturday at the three-day meet. The FFN Golden Tour stop in Marseille is one of three on the series in France.
Peaty was one of several Tokyo Olympians in action. Switzerland’s Noe Ponti delivered a dominant win in the men’s 100 butterfly, winning in 52.31. His margin back to runner-up Stanislas Huille was more than a second. Fellow Swiss Olympian Jeremy Desplanches won the 200 individual medley in 2:03.23, four tenths up on Jaouad Syoud.
For the home country, Florent Manaudou picked up a win in the 50 free. He clocked in at 22.58 to best fellow Frenchman Thomas Piron. The French went 1-2 in the women’s 50 fly, with Melanie Henique claiming victory in 26.05, .53 up on Marie Wattel.
Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel was busy on the first day. She finished third in both the 50 breast and the 100 back. The former was a narrow race, Gorbenko going 31.11 to finish just behind Arianna Castiglioni of Italy (30.81) and Belgium’s Florine Gaspard (30.89). The 100 back was won by Norway’s Ingeborg in 1:00.53. Mary-Ambre Moluh and Gorbenko were both on 1:00-point.
Notable at the meet, given recent rulings against Russian and Belorussian athletes competing internationally during its war on Ukraine, was the presence of several Russian swimmers. They appeared to be swimming under the neutral FFN banner. Anastasiya Kirpichnikova won the 400 free that way, in a 1-2 finish with countrywoman Anna Egorova.
Alessia Polieri won the 400 IM by more than a second in 4:52.99. The men’s 100 back went to Portugal’s Joao Nogueira Costa in 54.89, with Mewen Tomac of France second in 55.06.