2025 Mare Nostrum – Barcelona: Day 1 Prelims Recap: Anna Kalandadze Makes a Splash in 400 Free

2025 MARE NOSTRUM – Barcelona

• May 21-22, 2025
• Prelims at 8:30am local (2:30am ET)/Finals at 5pm local (11am ET)
• Club Natació Sant Andreu
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets (PDF)
• Results
• Live Stream ($)

Competition began this morning at the second stop of the 2025 Mare Nostrum tour, as the first prelims session kicked off in Barcelona.

The day started with the slower heats of the men’s 800 free, but full results won’t be available until the final heat races tonight.

After the heats of the 800, Ireland’s Danielle Hill helped get the energy going in the women’s 50 back. She secured the top spot  in 28.32, about half a second off of her season-best (27.85) performance in April. Ingrid Wilm took the runner-up spot in 28.57, which was .77 slower her finals time at the first stop in Monaco (27.80) and .37 off of her prelims swim in Monaco (28.20).

Just a few days after racing at stop one, several of the finalists from the men’s 50 breast in Monaco were back in the pool with more strong performances. Ilya Shymanovich was once again the only man under 27 in the field, posting a 26.81, while Nicolo Martinenghi took 3rd in 27.42 and Kirill Prigoda finished 4th in 27.50. Qualifying for finals in the runner-up spot was Ludovico Viberti (27.03).

Prigoda took on the 50/200 breast double this morning, cruising into the top spot in the 200 in 2:11.91 to secure a lead of about 1.5 seconds. With a season-best of 2:08.55 from the Russian Championship in April, Prigoda could turn in a much faster time this evening.

Leading the charge in the women’s 100 free was Milou Van Wijk (54.04), who was the only swimmer to break 55 and the fastest in the pool by over a second. After her came Siobhan Haughey (55.18) and Sara Curtis (55.31); the three of them were the top three finalists in Monaco.

Anastasya Gorbenko threw down a season-best time of 1:07.31 in the women’s 100 breast, dropping 1.3 from the time she posted at the Pro Swim Series in Sacramento and just 1.16 off of her lifetime best. Three other competitors were under the 1:08 mark: Alina Zmushka (1:07.47), Kotryna Teterevkova (1:07.81) and Anna Elendt (1:07.90).

The men’s 50 free saw Abdelrahman Elaraby secure the top spot in 22.19, a very strong performance that was just .02 off his lifetime best that he recently posted in March.

The heats of the men’s 100 fly were rather subdued, with Roman Shevlyakov securing the top spot in 52.20 while Noe Ponti cruised into the runner-up position in 52.34. With season-best times of 51.28 and 50.27, respectively, we could see much faster swims from them in finals.

Despite only having seven women racing the 400 free this morning, the prelims heat was anything but subdued. Anna Kalandadze threw down a massive best time of 4:19.31, dropping over five seconds from her previous lifetime best (4:24.36) on her way to claiming the #1 spot heading into finals. Malla Hamalainen also turned in a personal best time of 4:20.52, taking 2nd and shaving .14 off of her previous best time that she had just set in April.

Top Seeds

• Women’s 50 Back: Danielle Hill – 28.32
• Men’s 50 Breast: Ilya Shymanovich – 26.81
• Women’s 50 Fly: Arina Surkova – 26.14
• Men’s 400 IM: Gabor Zombori – 4:22.58
• Women’s 100 Free: Milou Van Wijk – 54.04
• Men’s 100 Back: Kliment Kolesnikov – 54.68
• Women’s 100 Breast: Anastasya Gorbenko – 1:07.31
• Men’s 50 Free: Abdelrahman Elaraby – 22.19
• Women’s 200 Back: Anastasiya Shkurdai – 2:11.07
• Men’s 200 Breast: Kirill Prigoda – 2:11.91
• Women’s 200 Fly: Laura Cabanes Garzas – 2:11.98
• Men’s 100 Fly: Roman Shevlyakov – 52.20
• Women’s 200 IM: Emma Carrasco Cadens – 2:12.45
• Women’s 400 Free: Anna Kalandadze – 4:19.31