Commonwealth Games golden girl Alicia Coutts will compete in her first international meet since winning five gold medals in Delhi when she spearheads a band of 17 Australian swimmers who will compete in the Barcelona leg of the Mare Nostrum series in Europe this weekend.  

The Mare Nostrum Series is a three-leg series that visits Barcelona (June 4-5), Canet (June 8-9) and Monaco (June 11-12) attracting some of the biggest names in world swimming.  

Leading up to the meet, the 23-year-old Coutts has spent time altitude training in Sierra Nevada with her AIS squad and coach John Fowlie, who was recently presented with the Speedo Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association (ASCTA) Coach of the Year award.  

Coutts, who was a standout at the Delhi Commonwealth Games backed up that performance earlier this year at the Australian Championships in Sydney in April winning three individual gold medals in the 200m IM, 100m butterfly and freestyle and will be searching for more gold in Barcelona. 

National Head Coach Leigh Nugent is overseeing the 17-strong Australian Swim Team for the first leg of the series, which also features reigning 200m butterfly world champion Jessicah Schipper and 200m breaststroke world record holder Christian Sprenger. 

Nugent says the opportunity for Coutts and co to race in first-class, international competition is one of the real benefits of the Mare Nostrum series, especially ahead of the FINA World Championships to be held in Shanghai, from July 24-31.

“Girls like Alicia have a lot of experience and have done this meet before, so they will also be able to get a great indication of where their preparations are at for Shanghai,” said Nugent.

“It will give them an excellent opportunity to fine tune their skills ahead of their world championships preparations.”

“The Mare Nostrum is always of a high standard, especially with the European’s choosing to fly in and only do one or two of the legs.”

“This competitive racing really toughens our guys up as they are always racing fresh competition.”

Expected starter Leisel Jones will no longer swim in Barcelona after her coach, Rohan Taylor, decided she would benefit more from a home training environment following three weeks of altitude training in Sierra Nevada.   

The triple Olympic gold medallist will now continue her next training block ahead of the world championships in her hometown of Melbourne, before contesting next month’s Australian Short Course Championships in Adelaide from July 1-3. 

The following Australian Swimmers will compete in Europe at the Mare Nostrum Series

Barcelona June 4-5
Alicia Coutts, Tommaso D’Orsogna, James Roberts, Cameron Prosser, Ben Treffers, Ashley Delaney, Belinda Hocking, Merindah Dingjan, Angie Bainbridge, Craig Calder, Sally Foster, Tayliah Zimmer, Kyle Richardson, Jessicah Schipper, Olivia Halicek, Christian Sprenger, Kenneth To

Canet June 8-9
Alicia Coutts, Tommaso D’Orsogna, James Roberts, Cameron Prosser, Ben Treffers, Matt Targett, Hayden Stoeckel, Kyle Richardson, Jessicah Schipper, Christian Sprenger, Samantha Marshall, Emily Selig, Sophie Edington, Marieke Guehrer, Jessica Morrison, Grace Loh, Kenneth To, Olivia Halicek

Monaco June 11-12
Matt Targett, Hayden Stoeckel, Kyle Richardson, Jessicah Schipper, Samantha Marshall, Emily Selig, Sophie Edington, Marieke Guehrer, Jessica Morrison, Grace Loh, Olivia Halicek

Swimming Australia