World Swimming Championships: Frenchman Maxime Grousset repeats his feat by winning gold in the 100m butterfly

The New Caledonian won in 49.62 seconds, smashing his own French record (50.11 seconds), ahead of Switzerland's Noè Ponti (49.83 seconds) and Canada's Ilya Kharun (50.07 seconds). Above all, he achieved the third best performance in history over the distance; only the American Caeleb Dressel has swum faster.

"It's crazy! I wanted to make a big impact, I felt really good in the heats and then in the semi-finals, and this morning, I felt even better. Well rested, slept well, calm. I wanted to have a good race, to win, and that's it!" he said.

Despite an average reaction time on the block, Grousset was in the lead at the halfway point, ahead of the world record, before being caught by several opponents after the turn. But he then showed his power in the final 25 meters to maintain the lead and fly towards the title. Euphoric, he hit the water with all his might as he savored his victory.

"I really felt this 'flow' especially on the first 50. On the second, it was more mental because I was starting to crack a little at the end. I felt that Noè was catching me so it wasn't that easy. But I really enjoyed it," he added, having recovered from his emotions at the end of the evening.

Behind Dressel, in front of Phelps

At 26, he also became the second best performer of all time behind the star Dressel, Olympic champion in 2021 in Tokyo, and overtook the Hungarian Kristof Milak, crowned in Paris last year, and the legend Michael Phelps.

Although a freestyle specialist, Grousset came to butterfly quite by chance, during a work competition in 2023. "I feel this stroke, I didn't need to tame it, it's instinctive, I feel good in butterfly. I'm a powerful swimmer and doing butterfly helps me channel that power," he explained.

He won his third career World Championship title, having already won gold in this distance in 2023, and his seventh individual medal overall.

But on Saturday, he added another medal to his tally, winning bronze an hour later with the blue relay in the mixed 4x100m freestyle.

Barely time to savor his second "Marseillaise" of the week, he set off immediately as the first relay runner, ideally launching Yann Le Goff, Marie Wattel and Beryl Gastaldello.

The collective medal

"It's not easy to get behind the cone and be focused five minutes later," he admitted. "It showed, it was a bit tough. I set a good time, but it was harder than the individual race."

Having been propelled to the podium as favorites after the surprise eliminations of Australia and China in the series, the French team showed their mettle, finishing the race in 3 min 21 sec 35. "The bronze is a pleasure for the team, it feels good, it's something else to win a medal individually and as a team," he said.

The victory went to the American relay team, which improved the world record to 3:18:48, while the Russian relay team took the silver medal.

The relay brings France its sixth medal since the start of these World Championships. For the final day of competition on Sunday, the French team should have two final chances for podium finishes with Léon Marchand, competing in the 400m individual medley and the men's 4x100m individual medley relay.