Another big day at the World Swimming Championships this Friday, July 28 with in particular Florent Manaudou’s semi-final in the 50m.
Captain of the French team, Florent Manaudou started the day well by qualifying for the semi-finals of the 50m freestyle. Only entered in the 4x100m at the start of the competition, the relaunch was a bit messy, but the Olympic champion provided the essentials by setting the 3rd fastest time in the heats. “It was a bit messy but given what happened in the series before, it’s pretty good. This (Friday) evening, I think I’ll still be next to Cameron (McEvoy), he’s swimming quickly. It’s good to have guys like that to push me to my limits. I think that there is nothing that is perfect, everything that is a little below, to replace a little this evening ” he explained.
On the 100m butterfly, we will find Maxime Grousset. After hesitating for a long time with the 50m freestyle, the double bronze medalist finally decided in favor of the 100m butterfly. Without Dressel and Milak, the New Caledonia-born swimmer senses an opportunity over distance. In her only race at the Worlds so far, Mélanie Hénique made her appointment with the semi-finals of the 50m butterfly by signing the 4th fastest time in the heats. In the evening, we will also follow the 4x200m relay with our French who should record the presence of Léon Marchand, but also the final of the 200m backstroke with Mewem Tomac.
Twenty-two years later, the city of Fukuoka in Japan is hosting the World Long Course Swimming Championships.
During the two weeks of competition, there will be 6 disciplines and 75 events. The races will start on July 23 and end on July 30.
What TV broadcast for the world swimming championships?
These World Championships in Japan will be followed live on france.tv and France 4 with Christian Choupin and Camille Lacourt.
For the World Championships in Japan, the tricolor delegation is important with 32 French people. Among them, there is Florent Manaudou, Charlotte Bonnet or Léon Marchand who is eagerly awaited.
Like Kylian Mbappé in football or Victor Wembanyama in basketball, Léon Marchand continues to be talked about. He belongs to this young generation of precocious French athletes in performance. At 21, he is already world champion in the 200m medley and the 400m medley. In the 200m butterfly, he is world vice-champion. During the 2023 French Championships in Rennes in June 2023, the Toulousain took gold in the 5 events where he lined up.
But most impressively, he broke a Michael Phelps record in the 200m medley at the Pro Swim Series last April. A feat now overshadowed by his historic performance at the 2023 World Swimming Championships. On July 23, Léon Marchand won gold in the 400m medley, thus winning his 3rd world title and above all smashing the record held since 2008 on this proof by Michael Phelps. On July 26, he continued with a new title in the 200m butterfly, then in the 200m medley on July 27.
Out of breath? Florent Manaudou has not left an image of a swimmer tired of success in recent weeks. Laure Manaudou’s little brother won the gold medal in his favorite stroke, the 50m freestyle. Better, he achieved in Rennes on June 15, the best world performance of the year. Florent Manaudou will arrive in Japan with certainty and once again unshakable confidence. It is the first time that he will swim again during the World Championships in long course. His last appearance in this competition dates back to 2015.
