The Mare Nostrum series continued today with the beginning of the stop in Canet-en-Roussilon.
Katinka Hosszu kickstarted an eventful night with a narrow win in the women’s 50-meter backstroke. Hosszu stopped the clock at a 28.07 over Anastaiia Fesikova’s 28.18. Rounding out the top three was Kirsty Coventry with a final time of 28.43.
Camille Lacourt surged to a win in front of his home crowd when he clocked a 24.87 to win the men’s 50-meter backstroke. Lacourt was the only swimmer of the event to turn in a sub-25 second time. Jan Philip Glania (25.27) and Guilherme Guido (25.45) grabbed second and third respectively.
Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen and Canada’s Chantal Van Landeghem dueled for first in the women’s 50-meter free, stopping the clock a slim .04 seconds apart. Ottesen got her hand to the wall first to earn gold with a 24.64 over Van Landeghem’s 24.68. Both swimmers fell just short of the 2016 world bests of 24.61 (Ottesen) and 24.43 (Van Landeghem).
Andrey Govorov maintained his spot atop the podium in the men’s 50-meter free with a top finish of 21.73, just shy of his 21.62 finish at last weekends stop in Monte Carlo. Kriztian Takacs grabbed second overall with a 22.25, while third was taken by Shinri Shioura (22.55).
The women’s 800-meter free was owned by Great Britain’s Jazz Carlin as she soared ahead of the competition. Carlin posted a final time of 8:25.23 to finish close to eight seconds ahead of the competition. Sharon Van Rouwendaal touched second with a final time of 8:33.68 and third was Tjasa Oder (8:34.94).
Hosszu continued her speedy ways with a meet record in the women’s 200-meter back of 2:06.88 to finish far ahead of the competition. That time puts Hosszu at third in the world rankings for 2016, just behind Belinda Hocking (2:06.49) and Emily Seebohm (2:06.59) Daria Ustinova claimed second with a time of 2:08.36, while Coventry claimed another bronze with a 2:09.09.
Kosuke Hagino and Christian Diener battled for first in the men’s 200-meter back, finishing .55 seconds apart. Hagino stopped the clock first with a final time of 1:58.29 over Diener’s 1:58.84.
A pair of 1:07s highlighted the women’s 100-meter breaststroke field. Rikke Pedersen turned in a time of 1:07.23 over Kanako Watanabe’s 1:07.75. Earlier this year Watanabe posted a swift 1:06.57 to earn herself a spot in the top twenty world rankings for 2016. Jessica Vall was third with a 1:08.13.
Not to be left behind, the men’s 100-meter breaststroke turned in fast times with the top three finishers posting times .27 seconds apart. Felipe Franca Da Silva edged out the competition to claim gold with a 1:00.11. Cameron Van Der Burgh grabbed second with a time of 1:00.26 ahead of Anton Chupkov’s 1:00.38.
Ottesen flew to another gold in the women’s 100-meter fly out-touching the young Penny Oleksiak by .04 seconds. Ottesen stopped the clock at a 57.40 over Oleksiak’s 57.44.
Chad le Clos took down the meet record in the men’s 100-meter fly with a final time of 51.56 grabbing yet another win in the butterfly events and bumping him to seventh in the world rankings for 2016. Steffen Diebler picked up second with a time of 51.91, and third went to Mehdy Metella and his time of 52.30.
Racing in front of a cheering home crowd France’s Charlotte Bonnet delivered a sizzling finish in the women’s 200-meter free to out-touch Hosszu by .01. Bonnet stopped the clock at a 1:56.84 over Hosszu’s 1:56.85. Both athletes have been slightly faster this year with times of 1:56.25 (Bonnet) and 1:56.31 (Hosszu).
The meet concluded with another “hometown” victory by Yannick Agnel in the men’s 200-meter free. Agnel delivered a time of 1:47.28 for the gold. Devon Myles Brown grabbed second with a time of 1:47.62, while Hagino finished close behind with a 1:47.69.