2022 MARE NOSTRUM TOUR – BARCELONA
- Wednesday, May 25th & Thursday, May 26h
- Club Natació Sant Andreu, Barcelona
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- Entries – Barcelona
- Livestream
- Results
The second preliminary session from the Barcelona stop of the 2022 Mare Nostrum Tour didn’t yield any new meet records like yesterday, but there were still some noteworthy swims across the board from some of the meet’s biggest stars.
American Michael Andrew, who has been taking on a hectic racing schedule so far on the circuit, picked up the top seed in a pair of events on Thursday, qualifying first into the final of the men’s 50 back (24.93) and 50 fly (23.38).
At last weekend’s Monaco stop, which featured a five-round skins format for the 50-meter events, Andrew placed second in the 50 fly and fifth in the 50 back, with his fastest performances coming in at 22.90 (fly) and 25.20 (back).
The 23-year-old was back in the water shortly after those two events this morning in the 100 breast, though he failed to make the ‘A’ final by placing 10th in a time of 1:01.85.
Dutchman Arno Kamminga was the top qualifier by almost a full second in a time of 59.22, nearing his winning time from the Monaco stop (59.10).
Italian Nicolo Martinenghi advanced second in 1:00.13.
Kamminga and Martinenghi rank third and fourth in the world in 2021-22, respectively, owning season-bests of 58.52 and 58.57.
On the women’s side, Canadian Kylie Masse was the lone swimmer to produce a sub-1:00 performance in the 100 back, qualifying in 59.43, a mark quicker than what countrymate Ingrid Wilm clocked to win in Monaco (59.73).
Masse is the fourth-fastest swimmer in the world this season after going 58.41 at the Canadian Swimming Trials in early April.
The women’s 100 fly is getting a massive step up in competition compared to what we saw at the opening leg of the tour, as Sweden’s Louise Hansson blasted a time of 57.17 in the prelims, nearly two seconds faster than what it took to win in Monaco (59.12).
Hansson ranks fifth in the world this season with a season-best of 56.89 set last month.
Another quick swim for the women came in the 50 breast, where South Africa’s Lara Van Niekerk followed up by her winning 29.90 swim from Monaco with a showing of 30.09.
Qualifying fourth was Anna Elendt, who won the 100 breast on Day 1. Elendt touched in 30.70, just .03 off the German Record she set last June of 30.67.
South African Matt Sates notably withdrew from swimming the men’s 400 free prelims this morning after winning in Monaco. Austrian Felix Auboeck qualified first in 3:49.59.
Sates will contest the 200 IM during the finals session (an event he also won in Monaco), where he comes in ranked third (2:00.95) behind Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches (2:00.19) and Canada’s Finlay Knox (2:00.89).
OTHER TOP QUALIFIERS
A reminder that the 50-meter events return to a traditional prelims/finals format in Barcelona after the skins format we saw in Monaco.
- Women’s 400 IM – Ageha Tanigawa (JPN), 4:43.83
- Men’s 100 free – Tom Dean (GBR), 48.78
- Women’s 50 free – Valerie Van Roon (NED), 25.02
- Men’s 200 back – Adam Telegdy (HUN), 1:58.66
- Women’s 200 breast – Mona McSharry (IRL), 2:27.10
- Men’s 200 fly – Kristof Milak (HUN), 1:55.80
- Women’s 200 free – Freya Anderson (GBR), 1:59.39
Gotta give it to MA, putting up respectable times repeatedly on little rest. Granted it’s all 50s and 100s, but still seems to track with him changing his training approach.
MA should pick his events wisely if he wants to maximize $$$. Do prizes differ based off event?
Michael Andrew should drop the backstroke events since Michael Andrew did not qualify in the backstroke events for the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships.