USA-based T&T swimmer Dylan Carter earned his second top-three finish in five starts when the third and final leg of the Mare Nostrum Tour began at the Pere Serrat Pool, Barcelona, Spain on Saturday.
Competing in the eight-man final at the Trofeu International Ciutat de Barcelona, the 42nd edition at CN Sant Andreu, Rambla Fabra I Puig, as he continued his preparations for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, the 26-year-old Carter raced to the wall in the 100m backstroke A-final in the Long Course Meet in 55.27 seconds to finish in second spot.
The winner was Spain’s Hugo De Oliveira Gonzalez, who took gold in a new Mare Nostrum meet record of 53.08, the same time established by Japan’s Ryosuke Irue in Monaco 11 years ago, but just off his personal best of 52.90 he swam at the recent Europeanm Championship, and shy of the Spanish record of 52.38 held by Aschwin Wildeboer set in 2009.
Third place was taken by Colombian Omar Pinzon in 55.47 while the pair of Mexico’s Diego Camacho Salgado (55.70), and Manuel Martos Bacarizo
(55.78) were fourth and fifth place finishers respectively.
The trio of Nicolas Garcia Saiz (55.99), Adrian Santos Martin (57.08) and Alejandro Calderon Iglesias (57.31) completed the list of finishers in the A-final.
Earlier in the morning session heats, Carter, a Commonwealth Games medallist, the first for T&T in swimming won the second of the three heats in 56.14, just ahead of Salgado who clocked 56.23 to be the third and fourth fastest qualifiers overall.
Saiz was the fastest qualifier in 55.67 ahead of Pinzon who touched the wall in 55.72 while Bacarizo (56.43), Iglesias (56.84), Gonzalez (56.99) and Martin (57.15) occupied positions fifth to eighth.
A multiple NCAA Swimming champion with the University of Southern California Trojans Carter will then swim the first of three heats in the 50m backstroke today (Sunday) also from lane four with Eloy Burillo Benitez, Melker Olsson, Alejandro Narvaez, Adrian Santos Martin, Carlos Munoz Renteria and Diego Muriel Lopez.
And in his final event, the 100m freestyle. Carter lines up in heat five of seven alongside Sweden’s Bjoern Seeliger, Cristian Daniel Quintero, Jorge Andres Iga Cesar, Daniel Zaitsev, Markus Lie of Norway, and Egyptian Youssef Tarek Ramadan.
Earlier this week Carter had to settle for the sixth spot in the men’s 100 metres freestyle A-final in 49.76 on the second and final day of the second stop of the 2021 Mare Nostrum Long Course Meet at the Centre de Natation Arlette Franco, Canet-en-Roussillon, France.
Host swimmer Maxime Grousset was a comfortable winner in 48.57, well clear of Cristian Quintero who was second in 49.41, and Sergio de Celis, who took bronze in 49.52.
Clement Cute in 49.64 and Cesar Castro Valle, in 49.70 were the others to finish ahead of Carter.
In the morning heats, Carter ended in the third spot in heat of three of five to qualify for the final as the seventh fastest overall.
Spain’s Quintero took full advantage of their absence and was the top qualifier at 49.21 seconds, well ahead of Grousset who touched in 49.54 while the pair of Cute and de Celis, who won Carter’s heat tied for third in 49.71.
Last Tuesday, Carter placed fourth in the men’s 100m butterfly A-final in 53.43 seconds to finish behind South African Chad Le Clos’ 52.29, Mehdy Metella’s 52.64 and Nikola Miljenic’s 53.22.
In the morning heats, Le Clos was third in the 100 butterfly in 53.72 behind Mettela (52.88) and Carter (53.03).
On Saturday last, at the opening Mare Nostrum Swim Meet at the Prince Albert II Swimming Pool in Monaco, Carter raced to the wall in the 100m freestyle A-final in 49.98 for the third spot behind French duo Grousset (48.28) and Charles Rihoux (49.44) while another Frenchman, Clement Mignon was fourth in 50.07.
In the heats, Carter was fourth fastest in 49.79 to trail Grousset (49.04), Mignon (49.29), and Rihoux (49.36).
However, on Sunday, in the 100m butterfly Carter ended in the tenth position in 54.87.