Adam Peaty and Jazz Carlin continued their winning form as five British swimmers took gold on the first day of the Mare Nostrum in Barcelona.
The evening got off to a golden start for British swimmers who won three of the first four races at the Club Natacio Sant Andreu.
Carlin got the ball rolling with victory in the 800m Freestyle before Chris Walker-Hebborn headed a British one-two in the 50m Backstroke with Liam Tancock with Ben Proud next to stand on the rostrum in the 50m Butterfly.
Peaty then won the 100m Breaststroke before Nick Grainger enjoyed victory in the final event of the session, the 400m Freestyle.
Double World Record holder Peaty had a clear lead at halfway although Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki made headway in the latter stages as the Briton tired.
Peaty, who won double gold at the opening leg of the Mare Nostrum in Canet at the weekend, was moderately satisfied and pointed to the fact he is in the midst of heavy training, saying: “Pretty good on the first 50, pretty bad on the second 50. I wanted to go a little faster than last year but I am in the middle of a massive training block now. Hopefully that will come.”
Carlin, who is coached by Dave McNulty at Bath National Training Centre, won double gold in the 400m and 1500m Freestyle in Canet.
Tonight Carlin tracked fellow Briton Keri-anne Payne – who will compete in the open water at next month’s World Championships in Kazan – before taking the lead going into the penultimate turn.
The 24-year-old slightly extended her lead in the final two lengths before claiming victory which was all the more impressive given she is still in heavy training and has had a demanding programme in recent competition.
She said: “I am feeling a bit heavy so it is good to get out there and race. I was happy with the 400m in Canet. It is good to get into the mix. It’s just about moving on to Kazan now.”
Grainger swam a disciplined race after British Record holder James Guy had gone out like a rocket in the 400m Freestyle.The City of Sheffield athlete went ahead at 300m and held off Canadian Commonwealth champion Ryan Cochrane for victory with Guy in third.
Grainger said: “It felt controlled but very, very hard – especially the second half, I had to give everything to stay away from Jimmy and Ryan. The end is always hard but we have been away in Vichy and had the Canet leg. It’s good to race hard.”
Proud led the 50m Butterfly from start to finish and smiled: “That is the right time for me mid-season. I am just trying to be as powerful and clean as possible. It is good to race people I am going to be racing this summer.”
Walker-Hebborn took gold in the 50m Backstroke ahead of World Record holder Liam Tancock who finished strongly.
Hannah Miley (400m Individual Medley), Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (200m Freestyle), Dan Wallace (200m Individual Medley), Fran Halsall (100m Butterfly) and Lizzie Simmonds (100m Backstroke) all claimed silver.
There was also bronze for Halsall in the 50m Freestyle with Rob Pavoni also making it to the podium in the200m Individual Medley.