Tony searches, Tony scores: Kitajima at the Mare Nostrum Meet doing a 2:12.98 for the 200 breast

Hackett versus Vendt in the 1500m at Mare Nostrum: This went completely under my radar!

Grant Hackett and Erik Vendt went toe-to-toe in the 1500m at the Mare Nostrum meet yesterday with both of them nearly swimming under the 15:00 barrier. When all was said and done, less than a second separated Grant Hackett's victory over Vendt.

"...Hackett came out on top in 15:00.58 with Vendt not far behind in 15:01.54. ..." [Link]

Erik has to be stoked since he not only held the Olympic champion to less than a second but that he could be swimming faster than Larsen Jensen; (Larsen Jensen swam an 8:12 for an 800m yesterday at the TYR Swim Meet of Champions in Mission Viejo. Vendt swam nearly twice as far at a faster pace.)

Therese Alshammar sets a world record in the 50m fly at the Mare Nostrum meet in Canet, France

Let's see what can I say about Therese Alshammar? She is Swedish, she is fast, she stands at 5'11" tall and at the Mare Nostrum meet in Canet, France she set a world record in the 50m fly in a time of 24.46 versus the former world record of 24.57. (Can I say she is not hard to look at as well?)

Then, after taking 15 minutes or so to warm down she then placed first in the 50m free. All this brought to you by a Swimming World email update. [Link]

WCSN will stream live the Mare Nostrum swim meet

WCSN which does some really great work and they are going to have online videos of the Mare Nostrum swim meet from Canet, France this weekend. You can watch it at your convenience or stream it live.

40-year-old Dara Torres will be swimming there as part of her comeback. Tara Kirk will be swimming, Erik Vendt, Dana Vollmer, Kaitlin Sandeno, Leila Vaziri, Kim Vandenberg, Davis Tarwater, Kosuke Katajima, Jodie Henry, and Michael Phelps teammate Peter Vanderkay. Whew! What a party! For details click here. [Link]

This just in: Michael Phelps pulls out of 'Mare Nostrum'

Breaking! Look at me, I can be just like the Drudge Report too. You know, write the word "BREAKING" in red-number-10 and take credit for somebody else's story!

Nahh, I won't do that, but I will credit Timed Finals with an amazing "scoop" noting that Michael Phelps is pulling out of Mare Nostrum to focus on US Nationals! [Link]

Very smart idea! If Michael Phelps wants his weight in gold medals he needs to win every event he swims. Going to Mare Nostrumto to face the world would probably be easier than facing Ian Crocker and teammate Davis Tarwater so consequently the eye on the prize at US Nationals is a very sound decision.

Grant Hackett swims 40 - 45 miles per week!

What Grant Hackett swims in a week, I swim his low end figure in a month. Hackett will be racing in Europe at the Mare Nostrum series this month so as to put the FINA World Championships behind him, get some confidence and do some race practice. From the article:

"For me, it's important to get up on the blocks and be competing and racing and get that type of fitness back but, at the same time, to not drop off the training too much," Hackett said.

"I'll still be doing 65-70-kilometre weeks while I'm over there, which will be quite intense. The results aren't what I'm looking at at this stage, it's really just stepping stones towards getting myself back to the fitness I need to be competitive and in the mix next year for Beijing." [Link]