2023 MARE NOSTRUM MONACO
- Saturday, May 20th & Sunday, May 21st
- Prince Albert II Swimming Pool, Stade Louis II, Monaco
- LCM (50m)
- World Championships/2024 Olympic Games Qualifier
- Meet Central
- Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
- Results
- Livestream
The final heats session of the final stop of the 2023 Mare Nostrum Tour took place this morning in Monaco.
Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto claimed two top seeds, landing lane 4 in both the men’s 100m fly and 200m free for a double this evening.
The 26-year-old national record holder first logged a 100m fly of 51.95 as the sole competitor to get under 52 seconds. He was followed by Olympic medalist Noe Ponti of Switzerland who clocked 52.12 while the reigning short course 200m fly World Record holder Tomoru Honda nabbed the 3rd seed in 53.06.
Matsumoto’s next victim of the 200m free saw him punch a time of 1:49.67 to lead the field. He has won this event at the previous two stops, posting times of 1:46.48 in Barcelona and 1:47.33 before that in Canet.
17-year-old Tomoyuki Matsushita, also of Japan, earned the top slot in the men’s 400m IM, earning a morning outing of 4:20.48. He’ll try to double up on the 200m IM victory he earned yesterday here in Monaco.
15-year-old freestyle ace Agostina Hein of Argentina was the quickest out of this morning’s 400m free heats, putting up a result of 4:14.80. Hein claimed 1500m free silver at the last stop in Barcelona, becoming her nation’s 5th fastest performer in that event in the process.
Hong Kong Olympic multi-medalist Siobhan Haughey is on the prowl in the women’s 100m free, posting a prelims swim of 54.61.
Aussie Cate Campbell will challenge the former University of Michigan Wolverine for gold tonight, owning the 2nd seed in 54.87. As for C1, this is just the 4th meet at which she has competed since the 2020 Olympic Games.
Lithuania’s Andrius Sidlauskas hit a morning mark of 1:00.92 to come out ahead of the men’s 100m breast field. The 200m breast winner from yesterday, Ippei Watanabe, of Japan logged 1:01.42 while Italian Olympic medalist Nicolo Martinenghi rounded out the top 3 seeds in 1:01.62.
American Michael Andrew wound up no-showing the 100m breast, but the 24-year-old will indeed still be in the water tonight.
The final 2 rounds of all of the 50 sprints will take place in this evening’s finals session, with Andrew set to compete in the 50m free and 50m fly.
We’ll also see Swedish superstar Sarah Sjostrom race both the aforementioned events, while C1 Japan’s Rikako Ikee, American Lydia Jacoby and Italy’s Thomas Ceccon are also among the knockout round competitors.
Additional Top Seeds
- French swimmer Lilou Ressencourt put up a mark of 2:13.82 to claim the top seed in the women’s 200m fly.
- The men’s 200m back saw Canadian Aiden Norman clock 2:00.50 for lane 4 in the final.
- Ingrid Wilm of Canada produced a morning outing of 1:00.46 in the women’s 100m back, holding a healthy advantage over Pauline Mahieu‘s (FRA) 1:00.72.
- The women’s 200m breast saw Lisa Angiolini earn a time of 2:29.11 as the swiftest morning competitor. Of note, Jacoby wound up dropping the event after having produced a big lifetime best of 2:24.03 just days ago in Barcelona.
- Canadian Mary-Sophie Harvey stopped the clock in 2:15.15 to take the top seed in the women’s 200m IM. Japan’s 16-year-old Junior Pan Pacific Champion Mio Narita will vie for a medal with her 2nd-seeded 2:15.72 while Israeli national record holder Anastasia Gorbenko‘s 2:17.01 morning result also makes her a threat.