The girls led by example.
Pauline Mahieu (backstroke), Charlotte Bonnet (breaststroke), Marie Wattel (butterfly) and Beryl Gastaldello (freestyle) smashed the French record for this distance, with a time of 3:56.36, three seconds better than the old record, but could not compete with the Swedes, whose last runner, the multi-medalist Sarah Sjoestroem, went for gold.
The Dutch complete the podium.
It was the twelfth medal of the French delegation in Rome but the party was not over.
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A few minutes later, Yohann Ndoye Brouard, European champion in the 200m backstroke, then Antoine Viquerat (breaststroke), Clément Secchi (butterfly) and Maxime Grousset (freestyle) did as well as the girls.
With a time of 3:32.50, they finish very far from the Italian relay, untouchable (more than four seconds) but ahead of the Austrians.
The final results will therefore be 13 medals (3 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze) for French swimming in Rome, after very successful championships.
An encouraging harvest in the perspective of the Paris Games, in two years.
© 2022 AFP