ANGERS, France, December 6. THE second night of swimming at the French Short Course National Championships featured a pair of world records falling by the wayside.
Amaury Leveaux scorched the men's 50 fly with a time of 22.29, which shattered Matt Jaukovic's world record of 22.50 set during the 2008 Sydney World Cup stop. Spain's Raphael Munoz took the hard-luck second-place finish with a 22.37, also under the former record. Fred Bousquet placed third in 22.63 after breaking his national record of 22.96 with a 22.72 during prelims. Notably, Leveaux broke the European record of 22.62 set by Johannes Dietrich last month as well.
Coralie Balmy followed in the women's 200 free with a world record of her own. She hit the wall in a scintillating time of 1:53.18. That performance clipped then-Libby Lenton's 1:53.29 set back in 2005. It also cleared the European and French record of 1:53.48 set by Laure Manaudou last year.
Manaudou blasted a meet-record time of 57.99 in the women's 100 back to open the second evening, besting her previous record of 58.05 set in 2006. Alexiane Castel joined her under a minute with a second-place 58.85.
Camille Lacourt crushed the national record in the men's 100 back with a time of 50.94. That performance demolished the 52.22 set by Benjamin Stasiulis in 2007. Pierre Roger (51.33) and Jeremy Stravius (52.15) also cleared the previous standard.
Russia's Alena Alekseeva won the women's 200 breast with a meet-record time of 2:21.12, breaking the 2:23.25 set by Kirsty Balfour back in 2005. Meanwhile, Sophie De Ronchi smashed the national record with a 2:22.90. That performance eclipsed her preliminary time of 2:22.96, which in turn erased the 2:24.98 set by Coralie Dobral in 2007.
Hugues Duboscq followed in the men's 200 breast with a national-record time of 2:06.00. That readout blasted the 2:07.56 set by Stephan Perrot back in 2002. The effort also broke the preliminary meet record of 2:06.19 set by Kristopher Gilchrist, which in turn broke Duboscq's 2007 standard of 2:08.70.
Joanne Andraca claimed the women's 400 IM title in 4:32.16, while Robert Margalis, one of a handful of Americans currently competing throughout meets in Europe, grabbed the men's 400 IM crown in 4:10.86. Nicolas Rostoucher finished second in 4:11.78.
Diane Bui Duyet took down another national record, this time with a 25.56 in the women's 50 fly. That performance edged her national standard of 25.57 set last month.
Alain Bernard completed the quick session with a national record of 1:43.40 in the men's 200 free. That swim wiped out the 1:43.58 set by Fabien Gilot last year in Istres.