LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell swimming and diving program has put extra emphasis on competition over the summer in recent years with team members racing at prestigious events like the U.S. Olympic Trials, USA Swimming Junior and Senior Nationals, the Arena Grand Prix at Mesa, the U.S. Open and the Santa Clara International Grand Prix. Next week four Bison swimmers will have the opportunity to add the Barcelona Meet on the Mare Nostrum Series to the list.
Louis Behnen, Chris Devlin, Julianna Foss and Emma Levendoski as well as the Bison coaching staff, will depart Friday for Spain. The swimmers will train outside of Barcelona for a few days in preparation for the two-day meet, which will take place June 10-11.
The Mare Nostrum Series features three meets held each June and includes some of the best swimmers in the world. Other stops on the tour include a meet in France and one in Monaco.
In addition to training and competing, the Bison contingent has tentative plans to visit the Picasso Museum and will have the opportunity to experience the culture of Barcelona during the week-long trip.
“This trip will be a tremendous opportunity for our participating student-athletes to gain a broader world view both culturally and competitively,” noted Bucknell head swimming and diving coach Dan Schinnerer. “They will get to experience the culture of traveling in the Barcelona area while also gaining the chance to compete against some of the best swimmers in the world. We anticipate a strong contingent of world-class swimmers not only from Europe, but also from Japan and South Africa. This is such an opportunity for them to learn and grow both as people and as competitors.
“From a competitive standpoint, this meet is part of our program’s goal of competing at the highest levels of our sport. It is also part of the process of emphasizing long course swimming as we work towards next summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials.”
Bucknell’s four swimmers traveling to Spain have combined for seven First Team All-Patriot League honors during their careers and they own a total of eight individual school records.
Swimming news courtesy of Bucknell Swimming.