2023 MARE NOSTRUM CANET
- Saturday, May 13th & Sunday, May 14th
- Canet-en-Roussillon, France
- LCM (50m)
- World Championships Qualifier
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream
The 2023 Mare Nostrum Tour officially kicked off today from Canet with a plethora of talent in the pool. The competition represents a World Championships qualifier so tonight’s finals may give us some head-turning performances.
Setting up those finals were some solid swims in this morning’s heats, with the likes of Sarah Sjostrom, Florent Manaudou, and Cate Campbell in the water.
Sjostrom of Sweden took the top spot in the women’s 50m free, producing a heats performance of 24.46 as one of three swimmers under the 25-second threshold this morning.
Joining her was Campbell of Australia who snagged the 2nd seed in 24.99 but fellow Swede Michelle Coleman joined her also in 24.99.
Sjostrom already ranks as the top 50m freestyler in the world thus far this season, courtesy of her 23.92 stunner thrown down last month at the Stockholm Open. Coleman owns a season-best of 24.72 from that same competition while C1’s performance now checks in as her best thus far in 2023.
The men’s 50m free saw Dutchman Thom De Boer claim the pole position with a morning outing of 22.22. That got the edge over Manaudou who clocked 22.37 while American Michael Andrew is in the mix in 22.45.
Andrew has been as quick as 21.87 already this season while Manaudou got under the 22-second threshold last month at the Belgian Open Championships. De Boer is still seeking a 21-point this season, cutting it close at 22.02 at the Eindhoven Qualification Meet.
Mona McSharry of Ireland was the top women’s 100m breaststroker, landing lane 4 in 1:07.12. Japanese record holder Reona Aoki was over a second behind in 1:08.22.
The pair are tight in the world rankings to set up a potential battle in the final, however. Aoki ranks 4th in 1:05.89 while McSharry is 6th in the world rankings this season with her national record of 1:06.04. Both made their nation’s World Championships squads with those performances.
Japanese ace Ippei Watanabe tight-roped the minute barrier in the men’s edition of the 100m breast, clocking a time of 1:00.39 as the top-seeded swimmer. His season-best of 59.52 produced at last month’s Japan Championships rendered him the national champion in this event.
Additional notable top seeds included Hong Kong’s Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey getting it done in the women’s 200m free in a time of 1:57.92. Luiz Melo of Brazil claimed the men’s 200m free top seed in 1:48.98.
Kim Busch of the Netherlands posted 58.89 in the women’s 100m fly as the quickest swimmer of the morning, while Japan’s Hiroko Makino is right on her heels in 58.94.
The World Record holder in the men’s short course 200m fly, Tomoru Honda topped the men’s 100m fly heats in a morning effort of 52.45.
That held a slim advantage over 2nd-seeded Adrian Jaskiewicz who hit 52.46 while Nyls Korstanje of the Netherlands is also in the mix in 52.57. James Guy of Great Britain was 52.84 as the 6th seed.
Hidden Gems Prelims Results:
- Rikako Ikee (JPN) – 9th in 50m free in 25.42
- Jacob Peters (GBR) – 10th in 100m fly in 53.53
- Ellen Walshe (IRL) – 6th in 100m fly in 1:00.07
- So Ogata (JPN) – 1st in 400m IM in 4:17.14
22.4 for Andrew after dropping the 50 back presumably to focus on the Free, not brilliant but the conditions didn’t look great based on ig pictures so I’ll give his new technique the benefit of doubt for now