British athletes secured a number of medals across both the first and second legs of the 2023 Mare Nostrum Swim Tour, with some valuable experience gained ahead of another busy summer of international swimming action.
The first part of the action took place in Canet-En-Roussillon, with the Bath Performance Centre contingent heading up the efforts for Great Britain against a star-studded line-up featuring medallists from all levels of international competition.
Brodie Williams and Cameron Brooker took the spoils from the first day of competition, with the pair earning Men’s 200m Backstroke silver and Men’s 50m Backstroke bronze respectively on what was a strong outing for the boys, who are both Fukuoka-bound this summer for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships.
Joining the six Bath swimmers out in the French commune was Derventio’s Imogen Clark, who put in yet another solid swim to take the silver medal in the Women’s 50m Breaststroke – missing out on the gold by only a few hundredths of a second.
Brooker and Williams joined Clark amongst the medal winners on the second day, as they took respective silver and bronze in the Men’s 100m Backstroke to round-off the silverware for the first leg.
It was the second leg in Barcelona just a few days later where the British group increased, though, thanks to representation from a number of clubs including a strong Swim Wales group. Daniel Jervis headed up the efforts for the Welsh team, as he was engaged in a fierce battle throughout the Men’s 1500m Freestyle – ultimately finishing with the silver medal after a comfortable swim.
Clark and Williams then returned to the podium in Spain to take the bronze and silver medals in the same Women’s 50m Breaststroke and Men’s 200m Backstroke events respectively, with Lougborough Performance Centre’s Anna Hopkin adding to Great Britain’s medal tally with a Women’s 50m Freestyle bronze in a stacked field.
Jervis then returned to the podium following a strong performance in the Men’s 400m Freestyle to take the bronze medal and round-off the competition, with Clark and a small number of other Brits now moving on to the third and final leg of the competition in Monaco this weekend.
Full results from the first two legs of the 2023 Mare Nosturm Swim Tour can be found here.