Big favorite in the 50m butterfly final, Maxime Grousset had to settle for third place. It is still a second medal for the French delegation at the Fukuoka World Championships. Pauline Mahieu qualified for the 100m backstroke final by beating Laure Manaudou’s French record.
With two French records in the 50m butterfly in the series (22″74) and in the semi-finals (22″72), and the best time in the semis, Maxime Grousset was the favorite for the final of the Fukuoka world championships in the 50m butterfly. On this distance which is not on the program of the Olympic Games, the 24-year-old New Caledonian dreamed of winning his first world title, he who already had a silver medal and two bronze. Well it will be a third bronze medal for the swimmer from the Clichy club!
Maxime Grousset did not manage to beat his personal best for the third time in two days, settling for 22″82 in his lane n°3. And it’s finally a third place, behind the 22-year-old Italian Thomas Ceccon (22″68) and the 18-year-old Portuguese Diogo Matos Ribeiro (22″80). A 100% renewed podium compared to that of the 2022 Worlds in Budapest, where Caeleb Dressel had triumphed. Despite the disappointment, it remains a second medal in two days for the French delegation after Léon Marchand’s triumph in the 400 medley. And Maxime Grousset will have other chances for medals, he who is competing in many events this week.
After Kirpichnikova, Mahieu erases Manaudou from the tablets
Just after this final, Pauline Mahieu competed in the semi-finals of the 100m backstroke, and the 24-year-old swimmer achieved a very good performance. Not only did she qualify for Tuesday’s final with the fifth time (the best went to the American reigning world champion Regan Smith in 58″33), but she also beat her personal best and the French record! By swimming in 59″30, the one who trains in Canet-en-Roussillon did better than the 59″50 achieved by Laure Manaudou in 2008. While Anastasiia Kirpichnikova had already stolen her French record in the 1500m during the morning series, the 2004 Olympic champion now holds “only” two French records in the long pool, in the 200m backstroke and 800m freestyle. For how long ?
