The Brits had a cracking day at the Barcelona round of the Mare Nostrum Tour on a first day of action that produced a 59.25 national mark for Adam Peaty in the 100m breaststroke, meet marks and world top 3 efforts from Hannah Miley in the 400m medley, Jazmin Carlin in the 1500m freestyle and a 24.40 triumph for Fran Halsall in the 50m freestyle. There were wins too for Ben Proud and James Guy. And then there was American Nathan Adrian – who crack out a 48.08 season best for global No 3 in the 100m freestyle on his way to a showdown Down Under.
Speed at every turn at the last serious outing for the Brits before they break up into home nations and race each other at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next month. Peaty, for England and Derby, took down the 59.55 at which the British standard had stood to Daniel Sliwinski since shiny suit 2009 and now sits at world No 2 on the rankings this year, the man ahead of Europe’s season No 1 one of the two favourites for the crown in Glasgow.
World champion Australia’s Christian Sprenger clocked 58.87 to set what remains the only sub-59 this year at nationals in April, while the Olympic champion and world record holder he beat in Barcelona last year, Cameron van der Burgh, has yet to show his top speed this year and could be found on a 1:01 plus in Rome yesterday.
Men 100M: Breaststroke
1
58.87
Christian Sprenger
AUS , 28
Australian National Championships
AUS, Brisbane
2
59.25
Adam Peaty
GBR , 19
Mare Nostrum, Barcelona
ESP, Barcelona
3
59.50
Cameron van der Burgh
RSA , 26
South African National Championships
RSA, Durban
4
59.56
Ross Murdoch
GBR , 20
British National Championships
GBR, Glasgow
5
59.75
Giedrius Titenis
LTU , 24
51st Sette Colli Trophy
ITA, Rome
Coached by Mel Marshall, one of the most-medalled women in the history of Commonwealth swimming at a single Games back in 2002, Peaty is making progress with every passing race test. The battle for bronze or better may well come down to the best Brit in Glasgow, Scotland’s Ross Murdoch having set the pace all year until Peaty went out in a storming 28.02 and returned to a national standard in a homecoming 31.23 for a best of 59.25 inside his previous high of 59.79.
The silver in Barcelona went to Japan’s Yasuhiro Koseki in 1:00.15, Russian Andrey Nikolaev on 1;00.69 for bronze, that locked out Murdoch, on 1:01.09, the weight in the work in his warms tangible in the fall off from a 28.57 half-way turn. Next home was Scotland’s next in line over 100m and first in line of all heading for the 200m in Glasgow, Olympic silver medallist Michael Jamieson, on 1;01.20 today.
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