Anna Elendt Shines in 100 Breaststroke at Mare Nostrum Stop in Canet; Maxime Grousset Claims 100 Fly Title
Germany’s Anna Elendt, who has enjoyed a strong spring season, captured a dominant victory in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke on the first day of the Mare Nostrum stop in Canet, France. A standout at the University of Texas, Elendt registered a swim of 1:06.33 to beat Belarus’ Alina Zmushka (1:07.49) by more than a second.
The 2022 silver medalist in the 100 breaststroke at the World Championships, Elendt appears well-positioned on the road to this summer’s World Champs in Singapore. She clocked 1:05.72 earlier this month at the German Championships and with the field in the 100 breaststroke relatively wide open, a podium finish at Worlds is within reach.
Frenchman Maxime Grousset gave the home crowd something to cheer about when he established a meet record of 51.40 in the 100 butterfly. The 2023 world champion in the 100 fly, Grousset remains one of the elite sprinters in the world between the butterfly and freestyle disciplines. In his victory in Canet, Grousset separated himself by .42 over runnerup Adilbek Mussin of Kazakhstan.
It isn’t ofter that Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey is beaten in the 200 freestyle, but the Czech Republic’s Barbora Seemanova found a way to get the job done. Trailing slightly at the midway point and at the 150-meter turn, Seemanova had the strongest finish to get to the wall in 1:56.05, with Haughey following in 1:56.42. Seemanova posted a closing split of 28.39, compared to the 28.86 of Haughey.
The men’s 100 breaststroke saw Russia’s Kirill Prigoda edge Japanese teenage Shin Ohashi, 59.67 to 59.88. That second-place performance is a positive for the 16-year-old Ohashi, who has been 2:09-low in the 200 breaststroke, which is his better event.
Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaouadi, the latest distance star from his country, established a meet record with a swim of 3:46.60, which was almost two seconds clear of the 3:48.43 of Sweden’s Victor Johansson. Jaouadi, who went 3:46.19 for ninth in the 400 freestyle at the Paris Olympics, was a double medalist at last December’s World Short Course Championships.
Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko opened the evening session by winning the 50 backstroke in 27.76, with Ireland’s Danielle Hill going 27.84 for second place. Gorbenko was back in the water later in the session to grab her second victory, this time in the 200 individual medley (2:11.19).
New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt, a two-time World Champs medalist in the event, topped the field in the 400 individual medley. Clareburt checked in with a time of 4:14.29, which was good for a six-second decision. Clareburt won the world title last year in Doha.
France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard notched an upset in the 50 backstroke when he edged Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov, the world-record holder. Ndoye-Brouard covered his lap in 25.15, with Kolesnikov going 25.24 for second place. Meanwhile, another French title was claimed by Beryl Gastaldello, who went 24.86 for a .01 margin over Hungary’s Petra Senanszky.
Sweden’s Louise Hansson enjoyed a wire-to-wire victory in the 100 butterfly, where she touched in 58.11.
Other victories were claimed by:
Men’s 50 Freestyle: Ian Ho (Hong Kong) – 22.17
Women’s 800 Freestyle: Sarah Dumont (Belgium) – 8:40.90
Women’s 200 Backstroke: Pauline Mahieu (France) – 2:10.31
Men’s 200 Backstroke: Jan Cejka (Czech Republic) – 1:58.15
Men’s 200 Freestyle: Miguel Perez Godoy (Spain) – 1:49.16