FFN Golden Tour: International Stars Out in Force for Third Stage in Marseille

• Dates: Friday, March 6 – Sunday, March 8, 2015
• Prelims 9 am GMT+1 (3 am EST/12 am PST)
• Finals 6 pm (12 pm EST/9 am PST), Sunday 4:30 pm (10:30 am EST/7:30 am PST)
• Live Results
• Live streaming
• Brochure

After a stop in Nice and then Amiens, the Golden Tour is back on the road this weekend in Marseille, France, at the storied Cercle des Nageurs de Marseille, home of Florent Manaudou, Fabien Gilot, Camille Lacourt, Mehdy Metella, Frédéric Bousquet, et alia.

This stop on the four-stage tour should be the most exciting thus far, with a large complement of international stars added to the mix. For the first time in this year’s Golden Tour there will be an American contingent, as Natalie Coughlin, Nathan Adrian and Anthony Ervin join the competition.

The women’s meet will feature European standouts Mireia Belmonte Garcia, Jazmin Carlin, Inge Dekker, Melani Costa Schmidt, Katinka Hosszu, Mie Nielsen, Jeanette Ottesen, Rike Moeller Pedersen, Sharon van Rouwendaal, Elizabeth Simmonds, Sarah Sjostrom, Evelyn Verraszto as well as French stars Charlotte Bonnet, Mélanie Henique, and Anna Santamans.

On the men’s side, Viktor Bromer, Steffen Deibler, Christian Diener, Felipe Franca Silva, Michael Jamieson, Thiago Pereira, Fabio Scozzoli, and David Verraszto will join Yannick Agnel, Bousquet, Gilot, Lacourt, Grégory Mallet, Manoudou, Metella, Giacomo Perez Dortona, and Jérémy Stravius.

Races to Watch

Men’s 50 free – With Adrian, Ervin, and Manaudou competing in the same heat, we are likely to get a new world-leading time. The Marseille team is just coming off a two-weeks training trip to Thailand and will either be very sharp or very jetlagged, but Manaudou will be swimming in his home pool and is eager to take on the Americans.

Men’s 100 back – This is always one of the top events to watch in France, with homegrown backstrokers Stravius, Lacourt, and Benjamin Stasiulis leading the way. Competition will come from Diener, Simon Sjodin, and Eddie Moueddene, who have been strong on the first two stages.

Women’s 200 IM – Featuring Coughlin and Hosszu, Stina Gardell and Belmonte Garcia, the 200 IM should be one of the top events on the women’s side.

Prize Money

The swimmers compete for prize money in 28 individual events over 3 days. The top eight in each event are awarded points (12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1), and at the end of the meet the following prize money will be awarded:

After the Nice and Amiens stages of the Golden Tour, the series leaderboard is:

The four stages of the Golden Tour: