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Les deux premières éditions se déroulèrent à la piscine Rainier III sur le port Hercule.

Organised by the Monaco Swimming Federation, the Monte-Carlo International Swim Meet is part of the Mare Nostrum Tour. For the last 40 years, it has brought together, annually, the very best swimmers, including Olympic medal-winners and European and world champions.

The Monte-Carlo International Swim Meet was established in 1983 and is held every year at the Louis II Stadium. More than 250 swimmers compete in this qualifying event for the next World Championships and the Paris Olympics, including some 40 Olympic, world or European medallists such as, in 2023, Sarah Sjöström, Andrii Govorov and Michael Andrew. National teams from all over the world will attend…

The Monaco meet was started by Yvette Lambin-Berti, then the President of the Monaco Swimming Federation and now the Secretary-General of the Monegasque Olympic Committee. It is particularly renowned for its incredible speed tournament, which showcases the 50 m freestyle sprint. This is a physically very demanding event, since competitors swim a 50-metre course five times over two days, including the elimination rounds and the two-person final. The swimmers regularly achieve times of “under 22 seconds, the benchmark time for an Olympic final,” explains Guillaume Dazun, coordinator of the Monte-Carlo International Swim Meet.

© Manuel Vitali
© Manuel Vitali

The Principality of Monaco joined forces with Barcelona and Canet-en-Roussillon to create Mare Nostrum in 1994. The aim of this three-stop tour is to “bring together the three most prestigious meets in Europe to create the first 50 m pool international tour.” This is a unique competition in the world of swimming, giving swimmers the opportunity to train during the course of three meets held over eight days, and to compete ahead of the European and World Championships.

In 2024, Korean Sunwoo Hwang erased Aleksander Popov’s legendary meet record by swimming under 48 seconds (47.91). In 1994, the Russian sprinter had smashed the world record for the 100m freestyle in Monaco, a record previously held by American Matt Biondi. The Monaco meet boasts a total of 4 world records and 9 European records.

Princess Charlene, who came fifth at the Sydney Olympic Games and won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester (in the 4x100m medley), also competed in the Mare Nostrum Tour. In 2000, she won the gold medal in the women’s 200 m backstroke at the Monaco International Swim Meet.

© Manuel Vitali

« Monaco is one of the best international meetings anywhere on the global circuit. The pool is very fast and the facilities are amazing. It has everything you need to succeed »

bronze medal-winner at the Tokyo Olympics and silver medal-winner at the World Championships, to Code Sport.

 

Find out more : Fédération Monégasque de Natation

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