The three-meet 2020 Mare Nostrum Tour has been canceled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers announced on Instagram Tuesday. The first stop was scheduled for June 6-7 in Monaco, the second for June 10-11 in Barcelona and the third for June 13-14 in Canet-en-Roussillon.
“Unfortunately… see you in 2021,” the announcement said.
Organizers of the meet in Monaco also said that next year’s edition will be held June 12-13.
The tour was popular among swimmers from around the globe and offered significant prize money. Awards at all three stops three stops were historically given based on FINA point swims – the top swimmers at each stop are the swimmers with the highest single FINA points score for an individual event.
In order to have earned the full-series prizes for the 2019 series, a swimmer must have competed at all three stops. Four men and four women earned overall series bonuses amounting to the following:
- Top FINA points swim: €7000
- 2nd FINA points swim: €2000
- 3rd FINA points swim: €1000
- 4th FINA points swim: €500
Each meet offered its own version of bonus money for various levels of record-breaking swims (up to €20,000 for a world record).
Last year’s tour saw a South American records from youngster Delfina Pignatiello in the 800 and 1500 free, a lifetime best from Katinka Hosszu in the 100 fly, a three-event breaststroke sweep for Yuliya Efimova across the tour, and numerous national records from international swimmers.
Hosszu and Michael Andrew came out on top of all women’s and men’s prize money earners, respectively, in 2019, as Hosszu waked away with €15,500 and Andrew € 13,850.
