Top Talent Ready to Race at Mare Nostrum Stop in Barcelona; Kristof Milak Among Headliners
The second stop of the annual Mare Nostrum Tour will take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Barcelona, with several new athletes set to see action. The first stop, held in Canet, featured several impressive performances from Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey. Haughey will again serve as a headliner, as she is slated to race the 100 freestyle, 200 free and 400 free.
In Barcelona, one of the most-anticipated showdowns will be the matchup between Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte and American Lydia Jacoby in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke. Meilutyte was the Olympic titlist at the 2012 Games in London, and has enjoyed a career resurgence over the past year. Jacoby, meanwhile, earned the gold medal in the 100 breast at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Reigning Olympic champion and world-record holder Kristof Milak will compete in his prime event, the 200 butterfly. Milak is the top seed in the event by nearly four seconds and will also race the 100 freestyle, where Italians Alessandro Miressi and Thomas Ceccon are also entered with sub-48 seed times. Ceccon, the world-record holder, is the No. 1 seed in the 100 backstroke.
Several top Canadians will be in Spain, including backstroke ace Kylie Masse and Olympic champ Maggie Mac Neil, who won the 100 butterfly at the Tokyo Games. Mac Neil is the top seed in the 100 fly, with Japan’s Rikako Ikee seeded second.
Here are the psych sheets for the Barcelona stop of the Mare Nostrum Tour.