Maxime Grousset, king of the butterfly: a third world title for the Frenchman with a stroke rediscovered by chance

No, in life, Léon Marchand isn't the only one who drives French swimming enthusiasts crazy with joy. At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Maxime Grousset went almost unnoticed – he didn't win any individual medals – but the Singapore World Championships have spectacularly re-established him as the second central figure in French swimming, almost on a par with "King Leon."

At the beginning of the week, "Max'" had launched the blue locomotive and won the title in the 50m butterfly, his second world title after the 100m butterfly in Fukuoka (Japan), in 2023. The third did not take long, only five days between the two, and this new final of the 100m butterfly won with the French and European record (49 s 62), Saturday August 2, ahead of his friend, the Swiss Noè Ponti (2nd, 49 s 83), and the Canadian Ilya Kharun (3rd, 50 s 07).

The second best performer in history over the distance, Maxime Grousset is the first Frenchman to go under 50 seconds in the 100m butterfly. "What did I do? Crazy!" he savored, his eyes ecstatic after his race. "He imposed his pace on the others from the start of the race, he had already partly won. He ran a race like a boss," analyzes Denis Auguin, national technical director of the French Swimming Federation.

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