2026 Mare Nostrum Tour — Canet
- Wednesday May 27 — Thursday May 28, 2026
- Canet-en-Roussillon, France
- Prelims at 9 am local (3 a.m. ET)/Finals 5:30 p.m. local (11:30 a.m. ET)
- LCM (50 Meters)
- Psych Sheets
- Meet Central
- Results
- Live Stream
- Day 1 Finals Live Recap
- Day 2 Finals Live Recap
Men’s 1500 Freestyle – Fastest Heat
- World record: 14:30.67 – Bobby Finke (USA), 2024
- Mare Nostrum record: 14:54.81 – Daniel Wiffen (IRE), 2025
- Canet Record: 14:54.81 – Daniel Wiffen (IRE), 2025
Top 3:
- Andrei-Theodor Proca (Romania) – 15:00.36
- Victor Johansson (Sweden) – 15:06.48
- Damien Joly (Stade de Vanves) – 15:11.46
Romania’s Andrei-Theodor Proca made a splash in Canet this evening, winning the men’s 1500 free in 15:00.36 and breaking the Romanian national record on the final day of the second stop of the 2026 Mare Nostrum Tour.
The 18-year-old’s performance shaved .15 off the national record, last broken by Vlad Stancu at the 2023 European Junior Championships with a time of 15:00.51.
Proca knocked over a second off of former his lifetime best (15:01.66) in the event, which he set at this same meet last summer during the 2025 Mare Nostrum Tour stop in Canet.
He took it out in 58.24 on the opening 100 of his record-breaking swim before settling into a rhythm for the rest of the race, keeping all of his splits in the high-59 to mid-1:00 range. Battling closely with Sweden’s Victor Johansson for the first couple hundred meters, Proca trailed just .21 at the 400-meter mark before moving up to firmly establish himself as the leader. By the 800-meter mark, he had built a lead of almost four seconds.
Proca clinched the gold medal in the event by a margin of six seconds, charging into the wall well ahead of runner-up Johansson (15:06.48) and France’s Damien Joly (15:11.46).
In addition to setting a new national record for Romania, Proca’s winning performance in Canet also ranks him 21st in the world thus far in the 2025-2026 season.
Proca burst onto the scene with a breakout performance at the 2025 Romanian National Championships last April, kicking off a period of notable time drops. He has made huge strides in the freestyle events over the past year and a half, including in the 1500 free; from July 2024 until April 2025, he held a personal best time of 15:23.25 in the event. He has now dropped almost 23 seconds in the span of just over a year.
Committed to swim for NC State next season, Proca will be joining a dominant distance freestyle program where he can continue to develop. The Wolfpack has built up a formidable distance program over the past decade, which is currently being headlined by rising sophomore Max Carlsen, who broke the school record in the 1000 free and was the team’s sole scorer in the distance events at the NCAA Championships this past season.
The men’s 1500 free in Canet marked Proca’s first appearance on the 2026 Mare Nostrum Tour.
Finally a worthy heir to Dragoş Coman!
And vlad stancu ngl
Stancu had so much promise, something clearly happened before the Olympics. Not sure if stress/lack of motivation (he was taking the baccalaureate) or something else. I think he also split with his coach. Hope he can come back.