BARCELONA, Spain, June 2. THE first stop of the 2012 Mare Nostrum series in Barcelona kicked off with several impressive swims and meet records by Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington, South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh and Brazil's Kaio Almeida.
Adlington, the defending Olympic champion in the women's 800 free, opened the meet with a new championship record in her pet event, posting a time of 8:19.86 for the win. Adlington also held the previous meet record, which stood at 8:21.25. Her top time this year still stands at 8:18.54 from March. Spain's Mireia Belmonte Garcia placed second in 8:24.23, followed by Chile's Kristel Kobrich in 8:33.31.
In the men's 50 back, Australia's Ben Treffers just missed the meet record of 25.05 but still picked up gold in 25.17. Russia's Sergey Fesikov finished second in 25.28 while Brazil's Daniel Orzechowshki was third in 25.41.
Spain's Marina Garcia Urzainqui posted the only time under 32-seconds on her way to winning the women's 50 breast in 31.81. Concepcion Badillo Diaz of Spain touched second in 32.01, while Danielle Beaubrun of St. Lucia was third in 32.14.
Kenya's Jason Dunford got to the wall first in the men's 50 fly in 23.67, just shy of the meet record of 23.35 by Andrew Lauterstein. Spaniard Rafael Munoz Perez finished just .01 behind in 23.68, while Brazil's Glauber Silva picked up third with a 23.80.
Hannah Miley of Great Britain had an impressive swim in the women's 400 IM, recording a time of 4:34.68, just missing her own meet record of 4:34.41 from 2009. Miley already has the fastest time in the world this year, a 4:32.67 from Britain's Olympic Trials in March. Mireia Belmonte Garcia took second in 4:39.06 after getting out of the 800 free not long before the start of the race. Aimee Willmott of Great Britain placed third in 4:40.12.
Canada's Brent Hayden outraced the field in the men's 100 free, touching in 49.02. Cuba's Hanser Garcia finished three-tenths back in 49.32, while Russia's Nikita Lobintsev (49.40) placed third.
Georgia Davies of Great Britain posted the quickest time in the women's 100 back at 1:00.87, ahead of South Africa's Karin Prinsloo (1:01.02) and Italy's Elena Gemo (1:01.18).
South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh dipped under 1:00 to win the men's 100 breast in a new championship record of 59.73, the fourth-fastest time in the world in 2012. van der Burgh had already set a new meet record of 1:00.11 in prelims. Great Britain's Michael Jamieson took second in 1:01.17, followed by Brazil's Felipe Lima in 1:01.38.
Victoria Poon of Canada sprinted to the women's 50 free title with a 25.30, a tenth in front of Australia's Marieke Guehrer (25.40) and two-tenths in ahead of Canada's Chantal VanLandeghem (25.50).
In the men's 200 back, Chris Walker-Hebborn of Great Britain smashed his prelim time by more than four seconds to win in 1:59.04. Canada's Charles Francis finished well behind in 2:01.52, with his teammate Tobias Oriwol right behind in 2:01.70.
Marina Garcia Urzainqui of Spain dominated the women's 200 breast, winning by nearly four seconds in 2:24.83. Canada's Kierra Smith finished in 2:28.41, just in front of Great Britain's Hannah Miley at 2:28.49.
The third championship record the night fell in the men's 200 fly at the hands of Brazil's Kaio Almeida. Almeida touched in 1:55.59, the seventh best performance globally, to break Dinko Jukic's record of 1:55.94 from 2008. Great Britain's Roberto Pavoni swam a 1:58.67 for second, while Great Britain's Matthew Johnson came in third in 2:01.73.
The top three swimmers in the women's 100 fly all broke 1:00, with Katerine Savard of Canada leading the way at 58.48. Sweden's Therese Alshammar touched in 58.80 for second while Great Britain's Jemma Lowe placed third in 59.00.
Great Britain's James Goddard posted a convincing win in the men's 200 IM with a time of 2:00.95, well ahead of Brazil's Henrique Rodrigues (2:02.57) and Australia's Justin James (2:04.10).
In the women's 200 free, Canadian Barbara Jardin was the only swimmer to break the 2:00 barrier, finishing first in a time of 1:59.11. Camille Gheorghiu of France finished in 2:00.33, just in front of Great Britain's Jazz Carlin at 2:00.38.
Finally, in the men's 400 free, France's Sebastien Rouault and Great Britain's David Carry battled the entire way before Rouault got his hand on the wall first, 3:51.64 to 3:51.96. South Africa's Devon Brown wound up third in 3:54.82.
The Barcelona stop of the series concludes tomorrow.