2003 In Bousquet's sophomore year, he qualified for the
2003 NCAA Championships. In the 200 yd freestyle relay, he swam the anchor leg, splitting 18.78 to miss the title by 0.25 seconds. The same night, he won the 50 yd freestyle in a time of 19.31. In the 400 yd medley relay, he swam the freestyle leg, splitting 42.18. Auburn finished third in a time of 3:07.28. In the 200 yd medley relay, Bousquet swam the third leg, contributely a time of 20.21 to record the fastest butterfly split in the field. Auburn finished second in a time of 1:24.96. In his second individual event of the championships, Bousquet came seventh in the 100 yd butterfly, recording a time of 46.75. On the final day of competition, Bousquet went 42.69 in the 100 yd freestyle, finishing third. He swam in the final event of the program, the 400 yd freestyle relay, splitting 41.47 on the anchor leg. Auburn finished second with a time of 2:49.68. Auburn won the team title with 603.5 points, 196.5 points ahead of second place. In July 2003, Bousquet competed at the
2003 World Championships in
Barcelona. In the
4 × 100 m freestyle relay, he swam the anchor leg in 47.03, recording the second-fastest relay split in history (as of 21 July 2003). He overtook
Ian Thorpe to win the bronze medal in a time of 3:15.66, 0.01 seconds ahead of Australia. Later in the competition, Bousquet finished sixth in the
100 m freestyle in a time of 49.30 seconds. In the
50 m freestyle, he finished tenth in the semifinals with a time of 22.47, missing the final by 0.02 seconds.
2004 Bousquet qualified for the
2004 NCAA Championships. The NCAA decided to host the year's competition in
short course metres, rather than their traditional format of short course yards. This created the possibility for
world records at the championships. Bousquet competed in the 200 m freestyle relay, splitting 20.55 on the anchor leg, which was the fastest split in the field. Auburn won the event in a US Open record of 1:23.75. In the 50 m freestyle, Bousquet won the title in 21.10, breaking
Anthony Ervin's world record of 21.21 from
2000. In the 400 m medley relay, Bousquet swam the butterfly leg and split 51.09. Auburn record a final time of 3:27.19 to finish second. Bousquet then swam the 200 m medley relay. He split 22.73 on the butterfly leg, contributing to a title in the event. Auburn's overall time was 1:34.25, another US Open record. In the 100 m butterfly, Bousquet finished sixth in a time of 52.11. On the final day, he finished third in the 100 m freestyle with a time of 46.87. He swam the anchor leg of the 400 m freestyle relay, splitting 47.12. Auburn won the event in 3:08.85, a new US Open record. Like in 2003, Auburn won the team title. At the
2004 Olympics in
Athens, Bousquet swam the anchor leg of the
4 × 100 m freestyle relay. He split 48.32, contributing to an overall time of 3:16.23 that placed France seventh.
2005 Bousquet competed at the
2005 NCAA Championships in his senior year. The championships returned to the short course yards format. In the 50 yd freestyle heats, Bousquet went 18.78 to break the
US Open record of 19.05, jointly held by
Tom Jager and
Anthony Ervin, becoming the first person to break 19-seconds in the event. That evening, Bousquet competed in the 200 yd freestyle relay and split 18.64 on the third leg. Auburn finished second, losing their US Open record to California. Bousquet then competed in the 50 yd freestyle final. Although he was slower than his record from the heats, he managed to break 19 seconds again to win the title in 18.90 seconds. He swam the butterfly leg of the 400 yd medley relay, contributing a split of 46.05 to help Auburn finish third; their final time was 3:07.92. In the 200 yd medley relay, Bousquet split 18.55 on the anchor leg, contributing to a fourth-place finish by Auburn in a final time of 1:25.79. In the 100 yd butterfly, Bousquet came fifth in a time of 46.90. On the final day, Bousquet finished second in the 100 yd freestyle in a time of 42.19. In the final race of his collegiate career, Bousquet led off the 400 yd freestyle relay in a time of 41.87. Auburn finished second in the event with a time of 2:50.38. Auburn won the team title again. Bousquet competed at the
2005 World Championships in
Montreal. He recorded a time of 49.21 to finish ninth in the
100 m freestyle, missing the final by 0.02 seconds. He then competed in the
50 m freestyle, finishing seventh in a time of 22.44.
2007 Bousquet qualified for the
2007 World Championships in
Melbourne. In the
4 × 100 m freestyle relay, Bousquet split 48.48 on the second leg. France ultimately won the bronze medal in a time of 3:14.68. Competing in the
100 m freestyle, Bousquet came twenty-seventh in a time of 49.94. His final event was the
50 m freestyle, where he recorded 22.50 to finish twelfth.
2008 At the 2008 French Championships in
Dunkirk, Bousquet went 48.71 to finish third in the 100 m freestyle, qualifying for the
2008 Olympics in
Beijing in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. France had four swimmers under the 48-second mark, including Alain Bernard as world record holder, making them contenders for the gold medal. France consolidated its gold contention at the Paris Open in June 2008, with a relay performance of 3:12.54, a new
European record and 0.08 seconds slower than the US' world record from
2006. In Beijing, France swam in the second heat of the
4 × 100 m freestyle relay. After the US broke the world record in the first heat, France recorded a time of 3:12.36, then the second-fastest time in history. Bousquet's anchor leg of 46.63 was the fastest the relay split in history. In the final, Bousquet swam the third leg, equalling his split from the heats to lead the race by a body-length. However, in the final 50 m of the race, French anchor Bernard was overtaken by the US'
Jason Lezak, relegating France to the silver medal. Lezak also surpassed Bousquet's split. France's final time was 3:08.32, 0.08 seconds slower the US. The US and France were among five teams in the final that surpassed the world record from the heats.
2009 In April 2009, Bousquet competed at the 2009 French Championships in
Montpellier. In the heats of the 50 m butterfly, he went 22.84 to break the French record before scratching for an unreported reason. He won the 100 m freestyle final in a time of 47.15, upsetting Bernard had who gone 46.94 in the semifinals. Bousquet's final event was the 50 m freestyle, which he won in a time of 20.94, breaking
Eamon Sullivan's world record of 21.28 from
2008, and becoming the first person to break 21-seconds in the event. Bousquet's mark stood until December 2009. Bousquet competed at the
2009 World Championships in
Rome. France was hoping to avenge their Olympic loss in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay with a world title in
the event. However, the US won the gold medal again, with Russia winning silver. France was relegated to the bronze medal position. In the
100 m freestyle, Bousquet won the bronze medal in 47.25 seconds. In the
50 m freestyle, he set a championship record of 21.21 seconds in the second semifinal, which was broken by
George Bovell in a swim-off for the finals. In the final, Bousquet equaled his time from the semifinals to win the silver medal.
2010–2013 In February 2010, Bousquet competed at the Auburn Masters Invitational in
Phoenix, Arizona. Although FINA had banned high-tech suits effective 1 January 2010, that decision was not immediately adopted by USA Masters Swimming, who banned them effective 31 May 2010. Bousquet used a suit to go 18.67 in the 50 yd freestyle, establishing a new masters record. At the
2010 European Championships in
Budapest, Bousquet went 21.36 in the semifinals of the 50 m freestyle, which was a new
championship record and the
fastest time in a textile suit. In the final, he won the gold medal in a time of 21.49. At the
2013 World Championships in
Barcelona, Bousquet won the bronze medal in the
50 m butterfly, recording a time of 23.11 to finish 0.10 seconds behind the gold medalist. ==Doping suspension==