Two-time Olympic swimmer Dylan Carter won his second gold medal in three days and third medal overall when he swam to victory in the men's 50 metres butterfly on the final day of the inaugural AP Race International Long Course (50m) at the London Aquatic Center in England on Monday's Bank Holiday.
Starting the race in lane four, Carter took to the front from early and won in 23.21 seconds, slower than his heat-winning time of 23.05 but still ahead of lane five Bryan Leong of Madagascar who touched in 24.62 for the silver, while Germany's Nicholas Finch got bronze from lane three in 24.67.
The others in the final were Germany's Sebastian Pierre-Louis in 25.17 in the fourth spot, followed by Denmark's Sofus Balladone in 25.19, Germany's Matthew Baker in 25.65, Denmark's Martin Abel in 25.98, Holland's Joshua Agussalim in 26.35, and yet another German entrant, Tommy Goldup, ninth in 26.71, with Great Britain's Lewis Hawden failing to start.
In the morning heats of the meet, which was approved by World Aquatics for athletes to qualify A and B times for the World Aquatics Championships, Fukuoka in July, Carter won the sixth and final men’s 50m butterfly heat also from lane four in 23.05, to be the fastest qualifier overall.
Pierre-Louis was second in the heat in 25.65, and Abel clocked 26.09 for the third spot, with Goldup fourth in 26.67 seconds, for the trio to claim the fifth, sixth, and tenth best qualification times to the Super Final.
Leong won heat four in 24.86 to be the second-best qualifier overall and was joined in the final from his heat by Finch (24.89), the third fastest, and Baker, who touched the wall in 26.17 for the seventh-best time among the swimmers in the field.
Balladone topped the fifth heat in 25.48 for the fourth fastest heat time and was joined from his heat by Agussalim (26.23) and Hawden (26.42) in the final.
On Saturday, Carter, 27, the winner of four medals in six events at the just concluded three legs of the 2023 Mare Nostrum Tour in Canet, France; Barcelona, Spain and Monaco, raced to victory in the ten-man 50m freestyle Super Final field in 22.24 seconds to beat British Olympian Matt Richards who secured silver in 22.35 and New Zealand’s Carter Swift who clocked 22.81 for third to the wall.
The other finishers in the final were host swimmers Jacob Whittle (22.85), Alex Cohoon (22.88), Madagascar’s Bryan Leong (23.07), Germany’s Sebastian Pierre-Louis (23.12), and the hometown trio of Maddox Roberts (23.54), Jeffrey Lo (23.63), and Michael Ripper in 23.79.
In the preliminary heats, Carter, the nine-time gold medal winner over three legs of the FINA World Cup Series last year to be the overall men’s champion was also the top qualifier in 22.23 seconds in winning the tenth and final heat ahead of Cohoon (23.00), the fourth fastest qualifier from the field, Leong (23.22), the sixth best, and Ripper who was the tenth and final qualifier to the A-final in 23.86.
Then on Sunday, Carter secured the bronze medal in the men’s 100m freestyle Super Final in 48.65 seconds to finish behind 20m freestyle Olympic champion Richards, who won in 48.17, and his fellow Great Britain Olympic champion Tom Dean, who took silver in 48.35.
The other finishers in the final were another Great Britain Olympic medal winner Jacob Whittle in 49.07, Swift (49.70), Elliot Clogg (50.26), Cohoon (50.56), Pierre-Louis (50.79), and Ripper, ninth in 51.92 with Nicholas Finch failing to face the starter.
Earlier in the morning heats of the 100m freestyle, the University of Southern California graduate Carter was a comfortable winner of the sixth of eight heats in 49.41 to beat Cohoon (50.42) and Ripper (51.17) into second and third spots, respectively, while also securing the best qualifying behind Dean who topped heat eight in 49.09, followed by fellow A-finals qualifiers, Richards (49.46), and Pierre-Louis (50.99) who ended third and ninth best in the heats.
Last week, Carter won four medals, two gold and two bronze on the three stops of the Mare Nostrum Tour in Canet-En-Roussillon, France: Barcelona, Spain, and the final leg in Monaco.
Carter, who is preparing for next month’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in El Salvador, June 19 to July 8, and the FINA World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan from July 14-30, won gold in the 100m freestyle in 48.84 seconds after touching the wall in 49.27 in the heats, while he also swam to the gold medal in the 50m butterfly in 23.36 seconds, a tenth off his season-best 23.25 from March’s Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale, and after his 23.73-splash in the heats.
The T&T swimmer earlier won the bronze medal in the men’s 50m freestyle in 22.25 seconds, following a 22.63 swim in the heats and he also got bronze in Barcelona in the 100m freestyle in 49.09 seconds after his 49.23 clocking in the heats while he was fourth in the 50m butterfly in 22.27, to improve on his 22.41 timing in the heats.
And, in his lone event in Monaco, the 50m butterfly, Carter was fourth best in 23.30 via the skins format.
Using his best times based on the FINA World Aquatic Points Rankings, Carter earned 877 points for his 100m freestyle swim in Canet, 869 points for his time of 49.09 in the same 100m freestyle event in Barcelona, and 873 points after his 23.30 time attained in the 50m butterfly in Monaco for an overall tally of 2,619 points and ninth best among the men.