5 Races To Watch At The 2023 Edinburgh International Swim Meet

2023 EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL SWIM MEET

• Friday, March 10th – Sunday, March 12th
• Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh, Scotland
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Site
• Entries
• Live Results
• Livestream

The 2023 Edinburgh International Swim Meet kicks off this weekend with a large British contingent set to take to the Royal Commonwealth Pool. There will be a sprinkling of foreign talent with which to contend as well, with Canada, the Netherlands, Austria and more bringing swimmers to join the party.

Some British swimmers are taking on this meet following the Lausanne Swim Cup which took place late last month, while others are headed to Edinburgh following the British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Championships.

Each competition represents a tune-up opportunity before the all-important British Swimming Championships. That meet in April represents the sole qualifying opportunity for British swimmers to make the World Championships squad for Fukuoka this summer.

As such, we’re not expecting any crazy-fast results from this in-season meet but that doesn’t mean we can’t point to our top 5 races to watch.

Top 5 Races to Watch at EISM

#1 Women’s 100m Backstroke

The 3rd fastest performer of all time in this women’s 100m backstroke is set to lead the charge, as Canadian Kylie Masse owns the top seed with her lifetime best of 57.70. She’ll be chased by Stirling’s Kathleen Dawson and Kira Toussaint of the Netherlands, while American Catie DeLoof and Swede Louise Hansson, both of Loughborough, will also be in the medal mix.

Thus far this season we’ve seen Masse dip under the minute mark with a time of 59.43 from the Pro Swim Series in Knoxville. Toussaint is right on the cusp, putting up a result of 1:00.35 at last December’s Rotterdam Qualification Meet. Hansson has also raced this 1back already this year, owning a season-best of 1:00.48 from the Luxembourg Euro Meet.

Dawson owns a lifetime best of 58.05 to rank her #2 behind Masse in the entries but is still waiting to crack the minute mark this year. Her quickest thus far has been the 1:00.78 produced at BUCS.

#2 Men’s 200m Freestyle

The reigning Olympic gold and silver medalists in Tom Dean and Duncan Scott are set to take center stage in this 200m free.

The pair represents the two fastest men in British history, with Dean owning the national record in 1:44.22 from his gold medal-winning performance at the 2020 Olympic Games while Scott owns a PB of 1:44.26 from finishing with the silver there in Tokyo.

The duo will face off against Austrian Felix Auboeck of Loughborough while fellow Brit James Guy will also be in contention.

Dean hit a time of 1:46.33 earlier this season while competing in Australia as part of British Swimming’s training camp on the Gold Coast. As for Scott, he posted a result of 1:48.15 in the heats of the event at BUCS.

#3 Women’s 100m Breaststroke

With Molly Renshaw and Sarah Vasey both retiring, British Swimming is looking for the next women’s breaststroker to rise to the top of the pack in time to make the grade for this summer’s World Championships.

Scotland’s Kara Hanlon is heading in the right direction, as the 25-year-old recently put up the fastest time of her career. Competing at BUCS, Hanlon logged a time of 1:06.75, becoming the first-ever woman from her nation to delve under the 1:07 barrier.

She proved it wasn’t a fluke a week later in Fort Lauderdale where she registered a time of 1:06.93 to take the silver at that Pro Swim Series meet.

Here in Edinburgh Hanlon will battle the woman who took BUCS gold, Russian Tatiana Belonogoff of Loughborough. Belonogoff beat out Hanlon with a time of 1:06.53, a time just .02 outside her best-ever 1:06.51.

Ready to rain on the parade this weekend, however, is fellow Brit Imogen Clark and Israeli Olympian Anastasia Gorbenko. Clark punched a time of 1:07.85 to take Pro Swim Series bronze last weekend while 19-year-old Gorbenko owns her nation’s standard with her PB of 1:06.69 from last May.

#4 Women’s 100m Butterfly

Hansson’s name pops up once again as the Swede carries the top seed in this women’s 100m fly event. Hansson will be ‘the hunted’ with her entry of 57.64 holding a slight advantage over Belgian ace Roos Vanotterdijk.

However, 18-year-old Vanotterdijk is coming in hot, recently having downed an impressive nine national records over the course of just three days competing at the Flemish Swimming Championships last month.

The European Junior champion in the event crushed a lifetime best of 57.85 to represent the only other Edinburgh competitor to own a sub-58 second time.

#5 Men’s 100m Butterfly

Austria’s Simon Bucher broke his national record with a swift 51.18 at last year’s World Championships so the 22-year-old is quickly approaching the 51-second threshold.

Potentially prodding him along this weekend will be British national record holder Guy. Although Guy enters with the 51.40 produced for 2022 Commonwealth Games silver, the 27-year-old has been as swift as 50.67 over the course of his career.

Fellow Brits Jacob Peters, Ed Mildred and Jamie Ingraham will also be fighting for a spot on the podium. Ingraham just raced at the Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale where he placed 8th in the men’s 1fly final with a time of 53.00.

Key Athletes Entered in Edinburgh International Swim Meet

• Austria – Bernard Reitshammer, Felix Auboeck
• Bath – Brodie Williams, Tom Dean, James Guy, Freya Anderson, Leah Crisp
• Belgium – Roos Vanotterdjk
• Canada – Kylie Masse
• Czech Republic – Simona Kubova
• Denmark – Signe Bro
• Derventio – Imogen Clark
• Edinburgh – Kara Hanlon
• Israel – Anastasia Gorbenko
• Ireland – Darragh Greene, Eoin Corby, Niamh Coyne, Ellen Walshe, Tom Fannon, Calum Bain
• Loughborough – Daniel Wiffen (IRL), Nathan Wiffen (IRL), Catie DeLoof (USA), Louise Hansson (SWE), Luke Greenbank, Laura Stephens, Adam Peaty, Jacob Whittle, Isabella Hindley, Paige Madden (USA), Andreas Vazaios (GRE), Abbie Wood, Tatiana Belonogoff (RUS)
• Millfield – Emily Large
• Netherlands – Kira Toussaint, Luc Kroon, Stan Pijnenburg
• Stirling – Keanna Macinnes, Kathleen Dawson, Katie Shanahan, Duncan Scott, Jack McMillan (IRL)