Subscribe to SwimSwam Magazine

2026 Mare Nostrum – Monaco: Entries, Key Races, How To Watch, & Prize Money Breakdown

2026 Mare Nostrum Tour – Monaco

The 2026 Mare Nostrum Tour kicks off this weekend in Monaco, running May 23-24, featuring a loaded lineup of Olympians and world record holders. Find below all the information you need for the first leg of the competition.

Entries

Races To Watch

  • The men’s sprint fly events are arguably the races of the meet; France’s Maxime Grousset, Switzerland’s Noe Ponti, and soon-to-be American representative Ilya Kharun, who made up the entire 100m fly podium at last summer’s World Championships, are all entered. And that’s before adding reigning Olympic champion and second-fastest 100m fly swimmer ever Kristof Milak and Russia’s 22.62 50m butterfly standout Oleg Kostin. No other event on the schedule can match the top-end depth of these two races.
  • A rematch is brewing in the women’s 100m freestyle between the two fastest swimmers in the world this season. The Netherlands’ Marrit Steenbergen, the reigning world champion, edged Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey 52.33 to 52.40 at last month’s Bergen Swim Festival. Steenbergen’s personal best remains the 52.26 she posted to win the 2024 world title, while Haughey’s 52.02 Asian Record from the 2023 World Cup circuit ranks her as the third-fastest performer in history. Given how fast both have already been this season, those marks could be under threat throughout the series.
  • The women’s 400 IM showcases another great head-to-head matchup on the women’s side, with reigning World Junior champion Agostina Hein set to face Canadian veteran Mary-Sophie Harvey. Both are coming off personal bests within the past year. Hein has already been 4:36.00 this season, good for 11th in the world rankings, while her personal best of 4:34.34 from last August’s World Junior Championships still stands. Harvey owns a lifetime best of 4:34.37 from March in an event she has swum on and off throughout her career, but one in which she has found her rhythm over the past two seasons.
  • Kliment Kolesnikov has been Russia’s go-to backstroker for nearly a decade, and while the reigning 50m backstroke world champion remains the country’s top name, two teammates have emerged as serious challengers: reigning world bronze medalist Pavel Samusenko and 100m backstroke World Junior Record holder Miron Lifintsev. Samusenko is historically a bit quicker in season, though it remains unclear where either swimmer is heading into next month’s Trials. Samusenko appears poised to threaten the 24-second barrier in the 50 back, while Lifintsev’s personal best in the 100 sits just 0.18 off the world record. Their performances here should offer an intriguing preview ahead of Trials, especially given how dramatically men’s backstroke depth has expanded over the past two years.
  • All three of the men’s breaststroke races have fairly deep fields from top to bottom. In the 50, Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich, Russia’s Ivan Kozhakin and Kirill Prigoda, and South Africa’s Michael Houlie could all contend for the win. The 100 will see the Dutch duo of Caspar Corbeau and Arno Kamminga among the favorites alongside Shymanovich and the Russian pair, with the 200 a clearer race for Corbeau, who figures to have Prigoda and Russian teammate Aleksandr Zhigalov as his next closest challenger.

How To Watch

A pass to watch all three stops of the series can be purchased for €6.99, or each individual meet for €2.99. The stream will be available live and on demand worldwide, with the exception of Brazil, Japan, South Africa, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, and Macedonia, where local broadcasters hold the rights:

  • Brazil: Globo
  • Bosnia: SportKlub
  • Croatia: SportKlub
  • Japan: News only (no live broadcast available)
  • Macedonia: SportKlub
  • Montenegro: SportKlub
  • Serbia: SportKlub
  • Slovenia: SportKlub
  • South Africa: SuperSport”

Prize Money

Some of the prize money differs slightly from meet-to-meet, mostly due to the Monaco stop featuring the “Speed Tournament” (the 50-meter races contested in a skins format), but the basics are the same.

The winner of each event wins €350 at each stop, followed by €200 for second and €100 for third. A Mare Nostrum Record earns €750, while a Meet Record earns €600. The exception is the Speed Tournament, where the winner gets €600 and the second place finisher is awarded €300.

Monaco is also offering up a €15,000 prize for the first world record broken at the meet, provided it’s in an ‘A’ final or in one of the final two rounds of the Speed Tournament.

If a swimmer breaks a Mare Nostrum Record in Monaco (and therefore also the meet record), they get both the €750 and €600 prizes for a total of €1,350. It’s also important to note that matching a record does not get paid.

  • 1st place in each event* – €350
  • 2nd place in each event* – €200
  • 3rd place in each event* – €100
  • Mare Nostrum Record – €750
  • 1st place, Speed Tournament – €600
  • 2nd place, Speedo Tournament – €300
  • *First* World Record – €15,000
  • European Record – €3,000
  • Meet Record – €600

*Not including the Speed Tournament 50s

Though not currently listed on the series’ website, in previous years, the overall series awards have been handed out to the swimmers who record the first, second, third and fourth-highest FINA point swims over the course of the series (men and women separate). Additionally, an athlete is required to race all three stops to win the award.

In This Story

0
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
newest
oldest most voted

Don't want to miss anything?

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our latest updates!

Want to take your swimfandom to the next level?

Subscribe to SwimSwam Magazine!