My experience at the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour
I recently spent two weeks in Europe competing at the Mare Nostrum Swim Tour and already have another competition on the doorstep later this week. Every opportunity to race is a chance to learn something new. The learning curve is especially steep in a foreign country. Racing against a great group of competitors under imperfect circumstances is often how large international competitions happen. These experiences help me perfect my game and it was wonderful exploring along the Mediterranean coast throughout the tour.
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What’s Happening?
Mare Nostrum Swim Tour
This prestigious series of swim competitions take place in Monaco, Canet en Roussillon and Barcelona. Many top European swimmers use this as a tune-up for the European Championships, so there was a fantastic contingent of athletes. I was in Europe for 14 days, so I will walk you through the whole trip!
Barcelona, Spain
Audrey, my parents, my teammate Grant, and I all flew in and out of Barcelona and had rental cars for the whole trip. We flew in a week early to adjust to the time zone difference before the meet started and do some site seeing. We walked around the city and enjoyed the cuisine. On a tuk-tuk tour, we saw the Sagrada Familia Cathedral, various Gaudi designed buildings and took in the views of the city from Montjuic hill. Grant and I had a practice at the Club Natacio Atletic Barceloneta (CNAB) beachside pool.
Marseille, France
The drive from Barcelona to Marseille takes about 5 hours, but it took us longer because the highway was closed. It was scenic driving through the Pyrenees Mountains and we stopped for dinner along the way near Montpellier. Former Mizzou swimmer and Olympic bronze medalist for France, Clem Secchi, lives in Marseille so we trained with his club for a few days. The iconic club is situated on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Training there was great, I always enjoy meeting new people to train and compete with. Audrey and I took a boat out to Chateau d'If, a 16th century fortress/prison on an island in the Frioul archipelago. This castle is the setting for the Count of Monte Cristo story. In Marseille, we also took a petit train to see Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica atop the tallest cliff in town. Cosquer Cave was also notable with cave paintings dating 27,000 years ago.
Monaco
After a short stop in Aix en Provence to do some shopping in the provencal market and eat lunch, we headed for Monaco. Getting around by car in Monaco was tricky due to the winding nature of the roads and getting around on foot was exhausting because of all the stairs. Exploring the F1 track and seeing the mega yachts in the marina was still super neat. This was the first stop of the swim tour in 2026 so we finally got to start racing! On day 1 I competed in the 200m butterfly. I swum a new season best with a smooth and controlled 1:59.74 in the morning. In the evening I bettered both of my 100 splits by a full second and dropped down to 1:57.62. Unfortunately, this placed me 4th, just off the podium. I was content with how I swam the race and pleased with such a strong time. The next day, I raced the 200m freestyle and qualified for finals with a 1:49.90 (just off my season best of 1:49.7). At finals, I had a great finish and got a bronze medal with a 1:48.63. In fact, the other two medalists were also American (Gabe Jett and Patrick Sammon). I have trained and raced with both of them many times... I can't get away from them! Each stop of the tour is only two days, so that concluded the Monaco meet. The warm up situation was pretty rough with only a four lane ~15m pool when the competition was underway, so performing well in those conditions is an excellent sign. After getting dinner, we went to the Casino de Monte Carlo.
Arles, France
On the way to the next stop of the competition, we stopped in Arles for lunch. We were serenaded by a guitarist while eating our Crogue-Monsieurs (basically a french grilled cheese). We proceeded to wander through the Roman amphitheatre and drama theater.
Canet en Roussillon, France
In Canet, we spent some time on the beach and enjoyed racing outside in the sun. After a great showing in the 200s, I wanted to get some more racing experience in the 100s. On Day 1, I raced the 100m freestyle. With a 49.69 season best, I qualified for the B-final. I had good consistency at night and lowered that time to a 49.63 which also won the consolation final. Following that up, I swam a 53.02 100m butterfly in prelims the following day, just off my 52.73 season best. This placed me in the B-final once again and I faded to a 53.60 for 14th in the evening. Overall, the competition and racing went well over these two stops. I had to deal with tired legs from all the walking, different dining culture and sub-optimal warm ups in a foreign environment. These are the sorts of things I need to be prepared to conquer and I am happy with how I handled it. After Canet, we headed back for the states as my cousin, Marrielle, was getting married in Minneapolis during the Barcelona phase of the swim tour.
Looking Ahead
I will be racing at the Indianapolis Pro Swim Series on June 17th and 18th. My friend and former Mizzou swimmer, Ben Patton, is getting married on the 19th so I will be flying straight from Indy to his wedding in Wichita.
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