Gwangju (South Korea) (AFP)
The young Maxime Grousset passed for the first time under the 22 seconds on 50 m, in 21 sec 86/100, personal record lowered by 26 hundredths, "an important course", at the World Swimming Championships Friday in Gwangju (Korea South).
Grousset (20) narrowly failed to qualify for the final: he finished ninth in the semi-finals, nine hundredths of last place qualifying. But Michel Chrétien's student at Insep has become the third best French perfomeur out of combinations on the one-way ticket, behind Florent Manaudou and Frédérick Bousquet.
"I'm really happy, I felt really good, I've been flying on the water this morning (in the playoffs), I was tense about my start and the end of the race. I even managed to accelerate in the last meters, "he says.
Go under 22 seconds, "It's a pretty big thing for me, it's a pretty big course, it's been a while since I wanted to cross it, so do it at the World Championships, it's When I touched the wall, I said: + It's good! + And when I saw the clock, it was confirmed, "says Grousset.
In the morning already, he had advanced his personal record of two hundredths (22.12 against 22.14) in the playoffs, he who plays his first Worlds.
His Korean week is not over: he will swim Saturday the mixed 4x100 with Clément Mignon, Charlotte Bonnet and Béryl Gastaldello.
© 2019 AFP