Katinka Hosszu and Yulia Efimova take victories in first day of the 2021 Mare Nostrum event opener in Monaco

It was a jam-packed schedule for Katinka Hosszu of Hungary - swimming in four finals on Saturday evening (29th May) at the respected 2021 Mare Nostrum event in Monaco.

There were also wins for Olympic medallist Yulia Efimova (100m breaststroke) and Olympic champion Chad Le Clos (200m butterfly), as some of the top names in the sport showed their progress ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2021.

2021 Mare Nostrum: Katinka Hosszu stars on day one in Monaco

Hosszu started off with a win in a two-way race in the 400m medley against Fantine Lesaffre of France.

After leading for most of the way in the 200m freestyle, Hosszu was beaten to first place by France’s Charlotte Bonnet.

Hosszu then recovered to win an exciting 100m butterfly final after a tight finish to put Mika Heideyer of France in second place.

The Hungarian 'Iron Lady' rounded off the day with the 200m backstroke - her weakest event in this session - with a fifth-placed finish. Fantine Lesaffre topped Saturday's final women's podium.

2021 Mare Nostrum: Yulia Efimova bounces back after Russia nationals disappointment

Three-time Olympic medallist Yulia Efimova romped to a 1:07.08 win in the women’s 100m breaststroke.

She won by almost a second ahead of Byanca Rodriguez Villanueva of Mexico. Jenna Laukkanen of Finland was in third.

Efimova has raced both the 100m and 200m breast at every Olympics and world championships since 2008 and earned a medal in nine of the 10 races dating to the 2013 Worlds.

At Russian trials, she finished third in her favoured 100m breaststroke event. It means she’s unlikely to feature in this particular discipline at Tokyo 2020.

American Lilly King famously wagged her finger at Efimova in the 100m at Rio in relation to her previous drugs ban.

Efimova served a sentence in 2013 and 2015 after testing positive for a steroid. She went to Rio 2016 and took two Olympic silver medals – in both 100m and 200m breaststroke.

2021 Mare Nostrum: Chad Le Clos takes win in Monaco

London 2012 champion Chad Le Clos was the third fastest in the earlier qualification session in Monaco in the 200m butterfly. 

Le Clos powered to victory in an exciting final 10m ahead of Estonia’s Kregor Zirk in second. Logan Fontaine came third.

The South African beat all-time most decorated Olympian Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly Olympic final in 2012.

The second day of six day’s racing gets underway on Sunday (30 May) with two days from Canet-en-Roussillon following on 1 and 2 June. Barcelona rounding the tour off on 5 and 6 June.

Results:

400m Freestyle - Men

1.     Ahmed-Ayoub Hafnaoui (Turkey) - 3:47.79

2.     Jordan Pothain (France) - 3:51.56

3.     Logan Fontaine (France) - 3:52.65

400m Medley - Women

1.     Katinka Hosszu (Hungary) – 4:38.36

2.     Fantine Lesaffre (France) – 4:40.12

200m Breaststroke - Men

1.    Arno Kamminga (Netherlands) - 2:12.18

2.    Miguel-Alejandro De Lara Ojeda (Mexico) - 2:15.23

3.    Arjan Knipping (Netherlands) - 2:15.92

100m Breaststroke - Women

1.     Yulia Efimova (Athlete from Russia) - 1:08.47

2.     Byanca Rodriguez (Mexico) - 1:08.69

3.     Jenna Laukkanen (Finland) - 1:09.94

100m Freestyle - Men

1.     Maxime Grousset (France) - 49.04

2.     Clement Mignon (France) - 49.29

3.     Charles Rihoux (France) - 49.36

200m Freestyle – Women

1.      Charlotte Bonnet (France) - 1:58.38

2.      Katinka Hosszu (Hungary) - 2:00.12

3.      Evelin Verraszto (Hungary) - 2:00.56

200m Butterfly – Men

1.     Chad Le Clos (South Africa) - 1:56.88

2.     Kregor Zirk (Estonia) - 1:57.45

3.     Logan Fontaine (France) - 2:02.02

100m Butterfly - Women

1.     Katinka Hosszu (Hungary) - 1:00.62

2.     Mika Heideyer (France) - 1:00.91

3.     Laura Lahtinen (Finland) – 1:01.08

100m Backstroke - Men

1.     Yohann Ndoye Brouard (France) - 53.53

2.     Omar Pinzon Garcia (Colombia) - 54.76

3.     Ladislas Salczer (France) - 56.65

200m Backstroke - Women

1.    Fantine Lesaffre (France) - 2:12.94

2.    Louise Lefebvre (France) - 2:19.76

3.    Celia Del Rocio Pulido Ortiz (Mexico) - 2:19.99

200m Medley - Men

1.    Arjan Knipping (Netherlands) - 2:01.35

2.    Jeremy Desplanches(Switzerland) - 2:01.73

3.    Ron Polonsky (Israel) - 2:06.82